Kree, Shi'ar, and Skrulls, Oh My!
by Canucklehead Cowgirl
Summary: Volume 3! Kurt and Kate are still in the throes of their new romance and loving every second of it! Jubilee and Noh-Varr try to wade through their interstellar romance and Logan gets a blast from the past that is going to leave some marks. Join our favorite characters as we give them the opportunity to see what it's like to be *happy*, or at the very least, get a fair shake!
1. Bug Boy And Jubes

**_Notes from CC: Well hello! Fancy meeting you here! Alright. So. If you didn't read volume two (Dating an X-Man is Hazardous to Your Health) you've missed out on a lot and NEED to go read it before coming back here. (Go ahead. I'll wait.) There is a LOT going on including another ship. Don't miss the launch - or all the AMAZING action and suspense over there._**

 ** _If you DID read Volume 2 - THANK YOU for enabling our crazy. We appreciate it so much. So. For all of you that did your homework and read V2 and are STILL reading - we have some fun stuff in store! Please stick around and enjoy it with us, we plan to keep this crazy train rolling for quite some time! Now. Let's continue the happy, we NEED the happy opportunities that are being MISSED in other places. *coughcoughMarvelcough*_**

 ** _From robbie: Ahhh! So excited to get Volume 3 rolling! This is going to be amazing, you guys. The more we expand this universe of ours, the more excited I get about the whole thing. Seriously. Just you wait. There are good things in store. So many, many good things._**

* * *

 **Bug Boy and Jubes**

* * *

It was the first day of December, and Kate found herself just grinning at the still-waking-up boyfriend of hers as she stood in the doorway with coffee. He had been out late with his best friend the night before, and she had never seen him come back _that_ drunk before. It was kind of endearing seeing him all tuckered out and curled up under the blanket.

"Good morning, you sweet little Elf," Kate said, kissing Kurt's cheek as she set a coffee mug down next to the bed, keeping the other one for himself. "I brought coffee."

Kurt waited long enough for his kiss before he pulled the blanket up a little further. "Morning," he muttered quietly. "Not so loud, please."

She giggled a little bit and just crawled in next to him with her coffee. "You were out late," she teased in a softer tone. "You woke me up when you couldn't remember which side of the bed was yours."

"Yes, well, thankfully it only happens once or twice a year," he replied, smirking up at her. "Usually in the same month."

She reached over and played one hand through his curls. "Well, that's good. I don't think I could handle dying of laughter every month." She kissed his temple. "You're unbearably adorable when you're trying not to wake me up."

"Don't tell Logan, or he'll make a point to repeat this more often," Kurt said with a smirk. "Any good excuse will do for him."

Kate smirked right back at him. "I'll keep it to myself," she promised. "There are other unbearably cute things you do anyway. He can know about those other ones."

"I would prefer if you didn't try to discuss my cutest attributes with my best friend," Kurt told her, finally cracking an eye open. "I will never live it down."

She giggled and set the coffee aside so she could crawl closer and snuggle him. "I haven't given him any serious dirt yet. You'd know, I think," she teased. "Don't worry. Your secrets are safe with me."

"I really wasn't worried," Kurt replied, turning to wrap her up and nuzzle into her hair.

"So." Kate snuggled in deeper. "What was the big occasion, anyway? I don't mind sharing you; I'm just curious."

"Logan's birthday," Kurt replied simply. "I try to make sure he's not alone."

She nodded into his chest. "You're a good friend to him."

"It still didn't do much good," Kurt replied with a heavy sigh. "He's probably still down in medical. He was in pretty bad shape by the time we got back."

"What happened? Did he get in a fight with his birthday cake?" Kate asked lightly.

"Oh, that would have been entertaining, No," Kurt told her before taking a very deep breath. "You know who Sabretooth is, _ja_?"

"Yeah," she agreed, shifting a bit so she could see him better when she heard the change in his tone. "I know his name."

"Well, he and Logan have a long-standing feud," Kurt tried to explain. "Victor doesn't let Logan's birthday pass without trying to kill him. So to make things simpler, he tries to not be home where there are children."

"Aren't they both, like — I mean, they can heal?" Kate wrinkled her nose.

"They can," Kurt agreed. "And no one does a better job of tearing one up than the other. They know exactly how to make it hurt worst and longest."

"That," she said softly, "does _not_ sound like a good birthday tradition."

"It's certainly not Logan's idea - and he does not return the favor," Kurt replied.

"But you went with him?" Kate tried not to look too concerned, but she was now running a hand over his chest and half looking for any sign that he was hurting. "I just thought you were getting plastered, not fighting Sabretooth."

"Well — we did both," Kurt said with a shrug. "Victor got in a good shot and knocked me out for a while. When I woke up, he had Logan in a bad spot. It was very hard to remember where we were 'porting to, but — we got home and I got him to Henry."

"Well, at least you did that much." She looked up for a moment and then scooted so that she could look at his head. "You doing okay?"

He smiled and kissed her. "Of course," he replied. "The alcohol did more damage than the blow."

"That's what I brought the coffee for," she said with a little smile. "To take care of you."

"I do appreciate it," he said before he kissed her into the pillows. "But the kisses do more to heal."

She just grinned delightedly. "Well, I'm just going to have to keep doing that, then," she said, very gently pulling him closer to kiss him back.

When they'd spent an incredibly improper amount of time waking up, the two sweethearts finally headed downstairs to find Logan with Bobby — both of them still having breakfast hours later than usual.

Bobby had clearly been grilling him on how the fight went down and calling it the first fight since he came back to life, which had Logan rolling his eyes and trying very hard to ignore him after the first three times of explaining that he hadn't been dead really didn't make any difference to Bobby.

Logan tipped his chin up toward Kurt when the couple arrived but didn't say anything. Kate dropped into the seat next to him and gave him a little smile. "Happy birthday. Now that I know about it. Good thing I do my Christmas shopping early. I'll find you something else later." She dropped a custom-made purple-and-blue-striped teddy bear, complete with little blue sideburns, into his lap. "His name is Tiger."

He smirked and shook his head before he put an arm around her and pulled her into a little side hug and kissed the side of her head, then picked up his coffee mug and went right back to coffee and quiet time.

She grinned at him but tilted her head to the side. "You feeling alright?" she asked. "I thought I'd at least get a crack about Benjamin Pierce."

He nodded and had one hand resting on his throat for a minute as he swallowed hard. "Still healing," he rasped out at a whisper.

" _Oh_!" She reached over and gave him a little kiss on the side of his head. "Then you just sit there with Tiger and heal. Don't let me stop you."

" _Someone_ got his throat torn out last night," Bobby said with a very serious look on his face.

"Ooh. Ouch." Kate winced visibly, with one eye closed. "That's… bad." She didn't really have a better description and just fell back on the very obvious wince.

Logan just nodded his head her way in silent agreement. "So much for Creed being a good guy," Bobby said. "Stupid Stark."

"Yeah, he's… very, very stupid," Kate agreed with a little smirk. "Even when I ran with the Avengers, they were looking at him sideways for that one. And half a dozen other things."

Logan nodded and very carefully signed out for her _DUMBASS_.

She laughed and nodded at that, knocking her fist for 'yes' as she did so. "Oh, very much so."

He raised his mug her way, and the two clinked before Logan snapped his fingers at Bobby for a refill.

Bobby had just about been ready to freeze the bottom of Logan's mug for treating him like an errand boy when the door to the kitchen burst open and the flurry of motion and color that was Jubilee tumbled in, all smiles and bubblegum. "Happy birthday, Wolvie!" she announced as she ran over to kiss him on the cheek and give him a big hug. "I know it's a day late — but I _tried_. It _was_ your birthday when we left, but then we were attacked by Skrulls, and they took out part of our engines… Anyway, happy birthday!"

He frowned at her for a moment after she got done squeezing him, but he still wasn't talking too well. He cleared his throat a little bit and very quietly rasped out with narrowed eyes "Who the hell is 'we,' or do you got a frog in your pocket?"

Jubilee let out a light laugh and shrugged. "I think you know from the look on your face."

"Did you get to pilot the ship yet?" Kate called out with a little teasing grin.

"I did," Jubilee said with a wide grin. "But — I'd rather let him drive, honestly. My attention span isn't the greatest."

"And I'm sure you were well-distracted," Kate agreed, grinning wider.

"And well-distract _ing_ ," Jubilee laughed.

Logan just looked ready to leave, and before the conversation could go much further, he pushed away from the counter and just headed for the garage, the keys to his motorcycle in hand.

But Jubilee wasn't having it, standing with her hands on her hips as she watched him. "Where do you think you're going? I came to see you."

He just gave her a dry look and kept walking.

"It's icy out, you moron, you can't take the bike," Jubilee argued, but a few short minutes later, the sound of the Harley's engine was unmistakable. She turned to Kate quickly. "Hard night?" she asked.

"Apparently," Kate agreed. "Creed tore his throat out."

"I thought he was over that stupidity!" Jubilee said with a frown. "The Avengers said that he was past that!"

"Yeah, well, this from the same people who let Tony Stark and Hank Pym build more bad guys _for_ them," Kate said, rolling her eyes.

"Crap," Jubilee replied, now looking a bit wide-eyed as she bit her lip and looked toward the window. "I didn't even think that was an issue anymore." She bounced slightly as she thought it over. "Should I go after him or just wait for him to grumble back here?"

"Depends on where the spaceship is parked, I think," Kate said, trying for a tease.

"Um - he said he was going shopping? Whatever that means," Jubilee said with a shrug. "I figured I'd get my mandatory Wolvie snuggle and grab some clothes. By the way," Jubilee said before she spun in a circle, her arms outstretched as she broke into a wide smile. "Space threads are better as an adult."

"You look lovely, Jubilee," Kurt said with a little smirk her way. He looked between the two women before he asked in a teasing tone, "Should we stop Wolverine or no — it could be fun to just sit back and watch…" He grinned as he pretended to consider it then pulled Jubilee into a quick hug. "Give him a chance to process. He'll accept it. Probably."

"He got Piotr drunk and set him up to fight the Juggernaut just because he ticked him off," Jubilee pointed out. "Kinda nervous as to what he thinks would be justice if this one does something that he thinks is ... hurtful."

"Don't worry about that right now," Kurt advised with a laugh. "But if history is any indicator, I'm sure Logan will come up with something."

"But Kurt's right. Don't worry about it," Kate agreed as she got up to also hug Jubilee. "For right now — _space stories_. You so have to tell me things. I heard there was a concert on the moon again, but you know he still hasn't figured out 140 characters, so it was hard to get details."

Jubilee plopped into the seat and gestured for Kate to join her. "Oh so many stories," she agreed. "I'll try to just hit the highlights for you."

* * *

The late breakfast had turned into the beginnings of lunchtime as a few of the others in the mansion drifted in and out to grab some food before a certain music-loving alien made his appearance with a bright smile and a wave.

"I couldn't find the double fudge topping you said you liked, but I got everything else," he told Jubilee as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Everything Earth-only I could find for your comfort food needs."

"I can't believe you went shopping," Jubes said brightly before giving him a quick kiss. "It's so nice of you."

He grinned at her and shrugged a bit. "Well, I wouldn't want you to get too homesick. We still have entire planets to explore." He looked up at the other two in the kitchen with a grin. "Hello, Kate. Nightcrawler. It's wonderful to see you both again."

"You seem much happier than last we met," Kurt observed. "It's wonderful."

Noh-Varr nodded his agreement and pulled Jubilee a little tighter around the shoulders. "It's nice not to travel alone. And it is even nicer to have someone who appreciates the beauty of the universe to travel with," he said, grinning down at Jubilee as he pulled her into a brief dance right there in the kitchen that ended with a kiss.

"Is he always this chipper?" Kurt asked Kate quietly, but not so quiet as to attempt secrecy.

"Give him a while to calm down — he likes to think he's being cute when he comes around and _performs_ ," Kate teased Noh's way, and he pretended to look offended.

"Kate Bishop of Earth, my faking is so total," he said with a little grin. He looked down at Jubilee. "But the fun — I'm not faking that," he added in a quiet whisper that also was easy to hear, still lightly spinning her as he had swept her up off the ground so that he could reach her to kiss her.

"You might not want to fake at all when Logan returns," Kurt advised, not recognizing the inside joke between Noh and Kate. "He considers it a lie and he will hold it against you." He smirked a bit. "That is — if you plan to continue _travelling_ with Jubilation."

Noh nodded with a slightly more subdued expression, though he hadn't lost the grin. "Well, as long as she wants to travel with me, I'd be a fool to turn her down," he said as he set her down.

"I'll let you know if I get bored," Jubilee said with a little laugh, though it was clear to anyone watching that she was enjoying herself dancing with the tall alien boy.

"Oh, I hope you never do," Noh said sincerely. She didn't respond but to pop up on her toes and steal another kiss.

"I have a few more clothes to grab," she told him. "And I wanna see Wolvie for more than thirty seconds, so — make yourself at home. I'll be right back. I'd invite you along, but I've been reliably told that it's simply not fun to watch me pack. People have been injured."

"I'd argue that my reflexes are too good to be injured, but I have seen you dance," he teased.

She stuck her tongue out at him and slipped out from under his arm. "See you in a few. Try not to run off without me." She zipped up the stairs at a jog, cheerfully greeting students and staff along the way.

"She's likely going to be a bit longer than she thought," Kurt told him. "Bobby was a bit angry that she disappeared like she did with no warning. He said it was too much like a trick her mentor would pull."

"Ah." Noh nodded the slightest bit and looked more serious as he leaned against the wall. "I should apologize for that."

Kurt laughed outright. "No, really it's fine," he promised. "We expect it of his 'kids'. They grow up and rush into adventure without a backwards glance."

Noh smiled at that. "I've found that is especially true with Jubilee."

"She was probably his favorite," Kurt said. "And she spent more time with him than the others did."

"So, you know, watch your back," Kate chimed in with a wink.

"Ah — is that why she insisted on calling ahead to see who was home at the mansion before we arrived?" he asked.

"If you're hoping to catch Wolverine, it's always best to check that he's actually where you think he should be," Kurt agreed with a laugh.

"So," Kate said, cutting in. "I heard that you and Jubes were attacked by Skrulls on the way in?"

Noh made a little face at the mention of the Skrulls. "They seemed to take exception to my ship being… functional," he agreed, shaking his head. "We dealt with them easily enough," he added quickly to Kurt. "Skrulls are something of a specialty of mine."

"Did you sustain any damage?" Kurt asked with a little frown.

"The Kirby engines took a serious hit, but I patched up the leak," Noh admitted. "It's just a matter of refueling. We were losing an epiphany a second on the way in."

"Well, if you find yourself in need, you're welcome to our hangar and all the equipment in it," Kurt said with a little smile.

"Hey, if you need to refuel fast, you can always let some of the students look through your ship," Kate suggested. "A whole bunch of teenagers, a whole bunch of excitement — you'll be full up of potential and emotional energy in no time."

"I might just take you up on that," Noh said with a laugh. "She does seem to lag without the whole of our old team around. I think she misses all that frenetic energy."

"If you really need it, just give Jubes a few cups of coffee, some sugar and a physics book. She very nearly studied with Henry when she was in college," Kurt offered.

"That sounds dangerous," Noh said with a wide smile.

"It really is," Kurt agreed. "Henry had to stop stocking Twinkies in the lab for a whole semester."

"I'll have to ask her about that," Noh agreed. "She always tells stories in the most energetic way — and they all seem to end in a bang." He looked around the mansion with a little smile. "In fact, I almost feel like I know the entire mansion by name without having spent much time here at all. Some on a personal basis." He paused and tipped his head to the side as his advanced hearing picked up what the other two couldn't hear yet. "Oh, that must be Wolverine," he said simply. "Jubilee told me about the motorcycle."

"He's likely due back," Kurt said before he stood up. "Excuse me, I think I'll warn Jubilee if she hasn't heard it herself." A moment later, he teleported away, leaving Kate with Noh for a moment.

"You know, he was right — you do seem a lot happier," Kate said, smiling.

Noh shrugged lightly as he adjusted the headphones he was nearly always wearing around his neck these days. "I seem to remember someone telling me not to be alone?"

"Aw, you listened," she teased.

"And you were right, of course," he agreed. "I truly have enjoyed myself more these past few weeks than I have for a long time."

"Good." She grinned at him. "Happy's a good look on you. You should keep it."

"I don't know if you've heard this from your dear friend Jubilee — but it's impossible not to have fun with her around." Noh beamed. "She's rather wonderful."

"Yeah. We like her," Kate agreed, laughing.

When Logan walked in after having clearly taken his sweet time in the garage, he hung the key to the bike near the door, stepped into the kitchen, and barely slowed down on his way though. "Elf. Kate. Bug Boy."

"Of all the handles I've had, I think that is my least favorite," Noh confessed to Kate in a whisper as Logan just pushed through the door to the hall.

"He'll get over it. Maybe. Or you'll learn to like it. Whichever happens first," Kate assured him with a laugh.

But before Noh could say anything else, there was a loud shout and then a louder thump just outside the kitchen as Jubilee spotted Logan and positively tackled him to the ground. "You are _not_ supposed to take off in a huff when I come to see you, stupid!" Jubilee half-shouted as the sounds of muffled hits echoed the hall.

"She's reading him the riot act. Two seconds — I gotta see this," Kate said, holding up a finger to tell Noh to stay put before she poked her head out of the kitchen to see Jubilee smack Logan in the side of the arm.

Noh peered around the door as well with a little smirk. "No one can stop that woman. She is a force of nature," he whispered to Kate with obvious affection that had Kate grinning on behalf of both of her friends.

Half a second later, Logan started tickling Jubilee, and the laughter echoed the hall for a moment before she slapped his chest again and just leaned down to give him a hug. " _That_ is what I expect for your birthday when I say hello!" she told him before both of them got to their feet.

"You're a pain in my ass," Logan told her with half narrowed eyes, but his tone wasn't rough with her.

"You love it," she countered before she popped him in the arm again.

"Giant Hug Magnet," Kate said with a huge, troublemaking smirk.

"Oh, you shut up," Logan growled her way.

"He says that because he knows I'm right and doesn't have an argument," Kate told Jubilee half-seriously.

Jubilee shrugged one shoulder forward, her hands on her hips. "Don't gotta tell me. I've been saying that since I was fourteen."

"You're both a pain in the ass," Logan grumbled before Jubilee darted in for a better hug that lasted a good, long time that Logan returned just as warmly as Jubes had hoped for. "You around for long, punkin'?"

"Just long enough to hear what the heck happened last night," Jubilee said, pulling him back to the kitchen. "I thought that creep was locked up."

"He said SHIELD let him out, but — you know how that works with him," Logan said. "Could just mean he tore someone's arm off to get their fingerprints. I'm not exactly on friendly terms with them to ask right now."

"Though, not actively being arrested anymore," Kate teased.

"Only because they don't want to start something they can't finish," Logan countered. "Let 'em try. I have plans. Call me a terrorist, I'll go ahead and earn it."

"Well, at least they got off _my_ tail … a little bit, anyway," she said with a little smirk. "Something about Cap and him saying you were a terrible, terrible influence on me," she snickered.

"He's just mad because I cleaned him out in cards," Logan said with a smirk. "Let him win fifty bucks and he'll change his tune again. Also — I think that means I corrupted you. Which means we don't have equal charges, darlin'."

"I _know_ ," she said with a little whine. "I told Cap he messed it up, and he looked at me like…" She struck the most surprised Captain America face she could, with her shoulders back and her head high.

"Yeah. He does that. You just gotta look back at him totally neutral as if he's the crazy one and wait it out. He'll crack."

"That's _your_ method," she teased. "I have Hawkeye methods of making Cap do what I want."

"Which just means you can't sit still long enough for that to work."

"Well, as you keep reminding me, I _am_ four," she shot back.

"And a half and not yet toilet trained." He shook his head slowly at her. "You should be ashamed."

"Do they do this often?" Noh asked over Kate's head toward Jubilee.

"Yes. It's their form of affection," Jubilee said. "It's her own fault for picking back. Neither one of them is going to stop, and it just gets more and more ridiculous."

"Oh, you might want to take that teddy bear with you," Logan said to Kate. " _That's_ ridiculous."

She grinned at him brilliantly. "It's _yours_ now, Radar."

He laughed outright. "Oh, Pierce, I'm gonna get you back."

"You can certainly try," she said with a huge grin and her hands on her hips.

"I don't try," Logan countered. "I'll just do it."

"If you're going to quote other famous mentors, please don't make it easier for me when they're also _tiny_ ," she said, giggling.

He shook his head and made a rush for her, tossing her over his shoulder and carrying her off outside. "I think you need a swim in the lake. Don't worry, the ice isn't too thick."

She was laughing as she squirmed around. "I'll take you with me!" she threatened.

"That's the plan," he laughed in return. "I like the cold — remember? Time for you to join the polar bear club."


	2. Don't Mess With (Logan's) Kids

_**Notes from CC: *waves* Hi guys! Welcome back! Yes. Nice opener, we thought, sorry (but not too sorry to leave you on a cliff-hanger there. But … We'll make it up to you.** **I swear.)**_

 _ **Notes from robbie: *giggles* Glad to see y'all are still loving this! There is much fun still to be had… and plenty of snuggles, don't worry ;) Pretty excited about this chapter because it sets up something pretty sweet for this volume. Omg. Just you wait :D :D**_

* * *

 **Chapter Two: Don't Mess with (Logan's) Kids**

* * *

Logan and Kate were halfway to the lake with Kurt, Noh, and Jubilee laughing behind them when SHIELD made its presence known — all bright lights and helicopters and more agents than was strictly necessary, just to put on a show as they crowded the ground of the school.

"Well, crap," Logan muttered as he finally let Kate down. "I'm still gonna get you, chicken hawk."

"And I'm still taking you with me," she replied without the slightest pause even as they were both settling into defensive stances.

"Like I said — that _is_ the plan," he shot back.

The others caught up to them, and Logan straightened up, ready for a fight. "Who all is wanted?" he asked the group over his shoulder before the main craft landed on the lawn.

"Possibly me still," Kate teased, but Noh behind her was also raising his hand with a sheepish grin.

"Well, strictly speaking, I am not supposed to be on Earth," he admitted. "Though that ban was instituted a long time ago, and I've not had a complaint recently."

Logan frowned at that. " _How_ long ago?"

"Not very long, by Earth standards," Noh said, though he hadn't lost the sheepish look inthe slightest. "A matter of few years."

Logan did a little double take at his answer before turning to face him properly. "How old are you — by Earth standards?"

Noh thought about it for a moment. "Twenty-four years, as of a few months ago."

"You're a damn _kid_ ," Logan said in a disbelieving tone. "They can't ban a kid."

"To be fair, I didn't exactly do myself proud," Noh said in a subdued voice.

"Just be quiet and let me handle it," Logan said his way with a wave and an incredibly irritated look on his face as the doors to the transport opened and Miss Maria Hill stepped out with a rather large armed escort. "Well this is just _perfect_ ," Logan said low as he crossed his arms over his chest, glaring already even before Hill had taken the time to speak.

She gestured with one hand, and the little group was surrounded by SHIELD agents before she looked to Kurt. "You've been harboring fugitives."

"I suppose that depends on how you define it," Kurt replied with a frown as he met her glare with one of his own. "You could argue that all of our students are fugitives."

She let out a hollow little laugh and crossed her arms, her hip cocked to one side. "And you know full well that I'm not talking about any student. As per your agreement with Director Fury, students are exempt unless they're causing major problems."

"Then you only have one fugitive," Logan cut across her. "And good luck takin' 'im in."

"Logan, you're standing in a dampening field," Hill said dryly. "Attack me and I'll just haul you back to SHIELD full of bulletholes." Logan narrowed his eyes at her as she looked toward Kurt. "And don't try teleporting. That won't work either."

"If you're gonna open up the discussion like this, then I'm not talkin' to _you_ ," Logan said dismissively. "Get your boss down here."

"Actually — if you want to talk to him, you'll have to go with us," Hill replied. "It's up to you if it's voluntary or not, but this time, you _are_ going." Logan thought it over for a minute as Jubilee squeezed his arm.

"Just me?" Logan asked with his head tipped to one side. .

"No," Hill replied. "You, Bishop, and Noh-Varr are all wanted — plus Wagner for harboring a fugitive." She didn't take her gaze off of Logan as she almost lazily gestured to the others.

Noh stiffened a bit at that, almost unconsciously, and glared at Hill. "I have no intention of going back into _your_ custody," he said coolly.

"Don't worry, Bug Boy," Logan said. "Stick tight to me. Anyone crosses you, I'll stab 'em in the face myself." He turned to Hill. "Banning a kid. You should be ashamed of yourself."

"I didn't institute the ban, but I agree with it. That _kid_ took off with a piece of the Phoenix force to give to the Kree," Hill said coolly. "You of all people should understand those stakes."

"Shame on them for puttin' a kid up to it," Logan countered. "But please, go ahead and try to lecture _me_ on the Phoenix force. I'd love to see what your vast experience _reading_ about it has taught you compared to all the times that I've actually helped to stop it."

Noh-Varr cleared his throat a bit and tried to step in. "I'm no child, Wolverine. I can handle—"

"You're in your twenties. That makes you a kid, like it or not. I've got a solid hundred years on you. So stuff it," Logan shot back without even turning to look at him, still glaring at Hill. "You didn't trust me with Quire, but that worked out. I'm not giving you a choice on this one either." Logan took a few steps forward, away from the little gathered group right toward Hill. "And until I hear from Nick, _no one_ is going anywhere with you, Hill."

Logan didn't blink, and neither did Hill for quite a while until finally she let out a breath and let her shoulders fall. "Fine," she said quietly as she handed him her direct link to Fury. "He's not going to be too happy."

"I care. _So_ much." He flipped open the comm and kept his eyes on Hill as he listened to Fury start off in a pretty damn severe tone before Logan told him to get a grip. There was a beat of silence before even Hill could hear from where she stood that, at the very least, the director's tone had changed entirely. The two shared a quick, friendly word before Logan closed the comm and tossed it back her way. "At least now he knows we're coming."

Hill caught the comm and looked somewhere near livid for a good long moment before she crossed her arms. "But you _are_ coming."

"For Fury," Logan clarified. "There will be no restraints, and no one touches my friends and fellow fugitives."

She sized him up for a moment and just spun on her heel. "Not since you're coming willingly," she agreed as she motioned for them to follow.

Logan snorted to himself and turned to Kate. "No yelling needed," he muttered half under his breath to her.

"And I was all primed and ready," Kate teased.

"If it makes you feel better, I'll yell at Fury," Logan countered. "Throat's feeling a lot better now."

She just grinned and shook her head. "No, no. Clearly the way to deal with Fury is to hug him," she said, though she said that last part in a low whisper.

"Okay — you try that and tell me how it works for you."

"It only works for giant hug magnets."

"And you're just a cuddle ball."

"Yes. Yes I am." She grinned at him as she grabbed Kurt by the hand. "Little purple ball of sass and cuddles."

When they got to the door of the transport, one of the guards tried to stop Jubilee from joining them. But that was something that the guard simply wasn't prepared for as Jubilee unleashed on him, her face contorted into an approximation of a snarl as she dug into him and tore him down a few pegs. The rest of the group paused, and though even Kurt was a bit wide-eyed, Logan just had his head tipped to the side a bit until she was done.

"Feel better?" Logan asked quietly, to which she folded her arms over her chest, stuck her lip out and nodded.

"Much. And I'm going too," Jubilee replied defiantly, to which Logan nodded and waved her forward.

Noh turned to face her with a little frown. "That might not be the best of ideas." It was the first time since SHIELD had arrived that he had let any of the obvious fear and distrust he had for them into his voice.

"Don't you worry about me, mister. I can handle _SHIELD,_ " Jubilee replied with none of the heat that she'd just handed the guards as she very gently squeezed his arm. "I've dealt with these losers since I first became an X-Man."

"And I since I first arrived on Earth." Noh raised an eyebrow and then sighed. "You are capable. It's just... " He waved his hand. "Never mind."

"You didn't have an in back then," Jubilee said as she took his arm, all of her heat gone as she just watched her cute little space man for a moment. "Have a little faith. You've got one now."

He kissed the side of her head. "We'll just see how this goes," he told her. "Last time I was in SHIELD custody… did not go very well for anyone involved."

"That sounds like just about every single ending to every single story Wolvie and I have that involve SHIELD custody," Jubilee said with a smirk. "Except the time Fury picked us up in a helicopter. That was fun."

"Chopper rides with Sabretooth are not _fun_ ," Logan corrected as he gave her a little look.

"They are when you throw him out," Jubilee defended with a grin that had Logan just shaking his head.

The little group stuck close together for the duration of the transport to the helicarrier, all but daring the SHIELD agents to try to separate them with body language alone. Once they were on board, Hill led them — the long way — through the improved facilities on their way to the bridge.

Noh had his arm around Jubilee's shoulders and a satisfied sort of smirk on his face as he tipped his head down a corridor in particular. "They've refurbished since I was last here. I think that entire wing was destroyed," he whispered to her.

She looked up to him and put her arm around his waist to give him a little squeeze. "Was it their own stupid fault?"

"Naturally," Noh said with a little smile.

"Then I guess they were asking for it," she replied. "Which ... they do. A lot." She half nuzzled into his side for a moment before she had to ask. "What did they do to ask for it, if you don't mind telling me?"

He looked a bit surprised. "You mean Kate didn't tell you about the first time we met?"

"Kate tells her own stories," Jubilee said with a shrug. "There is such a thing about letting people have their own say when it comes to the bad stuff? Her stories are almost always cheerful and fun."

"Ah, then she wouldn't have told you about that," Noh said, nodding thoughtfully. "It wasn't a proper first meeting at any rate — I was not myself, and I'm afraid I completely demolished her team and captured many of them for SHIELD."

" _For_ SHIELD?" Jubilee asked, tipping her head up to look at him better. "You're going to need to expand on that, cutie."

"Don't worry, Jubilee. I'm no SHIELD agent," Noh said with a little frown, though he was clearly trying to play it off, worried that he had just given Jubilee reason to distrust or dislike him. "I was not then, either. I suppose the proper description would be something like — an unwilling operative? To put it mildly."

"How about the realistic version?" Logan asked suddenly, half turned toward him.

Noh looked up to meet his gaze. For a moment, a flicker of something that passed too quickly to identify crossed his expression before he simply looked away again, his voice quiet as he explained, "At the time, my mind was not my own, and SHIELD sent me on missions, including one to capture the Runaways and the Young Avengers. I demolished the facilities used to control me afterwards for the insult."

"Not your own," Logan said quietly before he turned his head a bit, watching Hill as it was clear she was eavesdropping. "And who was holding the choke chain?"

"A man I was sure to kill," Noh said, waving his hand. "I know he received his orders elsewhere, and I know SHIELD was aware of his… projects," he added, looking pointedly at Hill, "but this man was… warden of the Cube."

Logan slowed a hair and Kurt nearly stopped as he watched his friend's dander rise. "Assistant Director Hill," Logan said, incredibly professional-sounding suddenly. "What reason would SHIELD have to put a nineteen-year-old in the Cube?"

"Besides the fact that he was declaring war on the entire planet every chance he got to speak?" Hill shot back.

"He was nineteen. They all do that."

"Not every nineteen-year-old has the _means_ to do it," Hill said coolly.

"Yet you've let plenty of nineteen year olds that did have the means just ... walk. What you got against Bug Boy — in particular?"

Noh tried to put a hand on Logan's arm. "Really, Wolverine. When I first came to this world, I didn't do myself proud. Earth… did not make a good introduction."

"And whose fault was that?" Logan was glaring at Hill.

"As far as we understand it, a megalomaniac who shot a Kree ship out of the sky. We just moved in to contain him before he could raze Earth for being the site of his defeat." Hill held his gaze for a moment. "His age wasn't a factor."

"Well maybe it should have been," Logan countered. "You can't tell me you've never had road rage. You're a prime candidate. But someone like Hank McCoy would have talked to a kid like that in a helluva lot more reasonable tones that SHIELD. It's not like SHIELD knows how to talk to adults properly, let alone kids. Why didn't you call in Charlie? He knows aliens and kids."

"As it happens, we did have Professor X and others speak with him," Hill said.

"Before or after you threw him in the Cube?"

"After," she admitted. "Before then, he wasn't exactly contactable."

"Yeah, that's where I'm having a problem," Logan growled out. "You shouldn't have pulled crap like that. Not when you weren't anywhere near qualified to deal with it."

"Wolverine, please," Noh said, shaking his head. "This is basic time travel 101 — you cannot change the past. Any cadet knows this."

"I'm well aware," Logan replied easily. "But there's something to be said from learning from your mistakes — and that's one thing SHIELD thinks they're above, because people like the assistant director here think they are incapable of making mistakes. It's a little hobby of mine to point out how wrong they are."

"At any rate, the point is moot. The warden was killed, and I overtook their facilities," Noh insisted. "And as much as it pains me to admit it, SHIELD _was_ right to feel they had to stop me. I would have regretted losing this Earth and its wonders."

"Glad to hear you're a fan," Logan replied, though he still hadn't taken his eyes off of Hill. "We done takin' the scenic route, or do I need to go to Fury's more direct on my own?"

Hill glared his way for a moment before she just nodded once. "I thought I'd give you time to read me the riot act, but if you're finished complaining, we can go."

"Oh, I'm nowhere near done; I'd just rather talk to someone with more authority seein' as all I'm getting from you is half-assed excuses and no remorse."

"I'm sure he'll be pleased to deal with you in a mood like this," she shot back.

"I'm delightful; you're just mad that I'm right," Logan said back to her with a crooked smirk.

"Yes, _delightful_ is the word I was looking for," she said dryly.

When they got to Fury's office, Hill stopped and knocked, but Logan just stepped around her and opened the door for himself, pushing his way through before Fury could address them. The little group followed suit as Hill tried to hurry up and at least catch up to Logan, who was already nearly to the director.

Fury turned, took in the entourage, and shook his head for just a moment before the two of them shook hands. Kate saw Logan mutter something to Fury, but she couldn't see what it was. It became immediately clear though: "Logan, how delightful to see you here so quickly," Fury said with a well-concealed smirk.

"Get the popcorn," Kate whispered very quietly in Kurt's ear.

"No kidding," he replied. "I thought I was the one for showmanship."

A moment later, Logan took a cigar out of the box on Fury's desk and leaned against the desk as he lit it. "So, your secretary director — or whatever you wanna call 'er," Logan said, just trying to tweak her as he took a good puff. "Not sure who pissed in her oatmeal, but she's got a little attitude with me."

"Imagine that," Fury replied dryly. " _Assistant_ Director Hill is a good second in command."

"Right. But there's a reason she's second," Logan said with a nod — as if Hill wasn't standing there at all. "She wanted to take us in — though I'm not sure who her original target was." Both Fury and Logan looked to Hill for her answer.

"You've been running around unauthorized for months, Logan," she said with a bit of heat that didn't match her usual levels. "I'd say I've been more than patient until now."

"And me runnin' around teachin' kids — that's more important than anything else SHIELD has on its radar?" Logan asked with a look of pure disbelief. "I didn't think I rated that high for you, Hill. Or — you looking for a big name on your catch list?"

She snorted. "I have plenty on my catch list. I'm just making a point to show that _big names_ don't excuse you when you cross SHIELD."

"Fair enough," Logan conceded. "Nothin' a friendly phone call wouldn't fix though. So what am I in trouble for, exactly that warrants a full SHIELD team? Breathing? Or were you hoping that your escaped convict that came after me last night would just fix that for you?"

Fury looked a bit surprised by that one. "Who escaped?"

Logan just crossed his arms, the cigar in his mouth and looked toward Hill.

Hill met his gaze with a glare. "After your little tussle, we sent agents after his trail, but we haven't picked anything up on Sabretooth's position. _When_ he shows up again, we'll get him back."

"As I understand it, the only reason you had him in the first place was because he turned himself in," Logan replied.

"And the only reason he escaped was to get to you," Hill countered. "Which was one of the many reasons we _didn't want you to be in public._ "

"So you want to lock me up so that people like him won't come after me?" Logan shook his head. "No way."

"We wanted to control the leaks, make sure those who found out you were back were on our side — at least the ones who found out first. I'm sure you thought letting half the Eastern underground know before most of the Avengers knew was a suitable response." She glared at him.

"I was working under the notion that the Director of SHIELD and Captain America could handle that much all on their own without little old me to be there," Logan said before he looked up at Fury. "You did tell the others, right? I mean — the ones that _didn't_ show up to poker?"

Fury tried to hide his amusement before he nodded quietly. "It came up, I'm sure." He shook his head and let out a sigh. "Okay, Logan. What's it going to take to get you to play nice with Hill for twenty minutes just to get this all wrapped up?"

"Drop the charges on my friends here," Logan replied easily.

"Done," Fury agreed. "Now go — deal with whatever paperwork and ID cards or whatever Hill wants from you." He looked up at Hill. "I'll want all the files of charges on these four."

"I'll have them on your desk," she agreed, then added with a little smirk, "Of course, I'd need a hand cart to bring all the files for Logan if you'd asked for those."

"Not a bad idea - we can keep those around as a warning to intrepid young heroes," Fury said with a smirk. "But I will want everything on the others. Shouldn't take more than a box or two." WIth that, Hill left with Logan, though she wasn't even trying to hide the glare she was giving him.

"I think we should be insulted," Kate whispered to Jubilee in a stage whisper. "Should we be insulted?"

"Um — he just got you totally cleared of everything ever that SHIELD has on you. You should be happy, miss elephant in the room," Jubilee whispered back.

"And I should be concerned," Noh added with a quizzical expression. "Or is it not Earth policy to keep more detailed files on declarations of war and those who worked with teams of criminals?"

"Oh, we're keeping the records," Fury clarified his way. "But the _charges_ attached to them will be removed. Unless, of course, you have more declarations of war to throw around."

"Certainly not," Noh said, shaking his head quickly, though he still didn't quite look like he believed what he was hearing. "Whatever my mistakes, it _has_ been my intention to protect this world."

"Then it sounds like you've learned your lesson and lost a little bit of that naivety," Fury said. "And most heroes end up allying with a bad guy or two from time to time. We'll just chalk that up to growth." He fixed them all with a glare for a moment. "But don't think that his little trick will work again nearly so easily."

"We're not planning on needing it?" Kate pointed out. "Unless superheroing is a crime now?"

"Only when you go outside of what our general rules are for the teams and affiliations you have," Fury replied. "Until recently, you've been running more with the Avengers — I'm sure you've figured out that the X-Men have a different set of standards."

She nodded a few times. "Yeah. I noticed that. Pretty quick, actually. I _am_ sharp like that."

"Well, stay in good with your team — or teams in some people's cases — and you're probably just fine. It's the so-called solo work that will bite you in the ass," Fury told her. Kurt didn't say a word, but he did rest his hand on her waist as he leaned in to kiss her cheek. "Why don't you four have a cup of coffee while you wait for your ringleader to return? We have a little bit of business to discuss when he gets back."

The four of them shared a look before Kate was the first one to ask, "How many sugars do you have?"

"You planning on needing more than the box next to the machine?" Fury asked with a frown.

"Boring." Kate smirked his way and tipped her head at Jubilee. "Remind me to show you the _best_ way to make coffee with Clint's stupid, broken machine sometime. It comes out great, but it takes some work. Just a pinch of brown sugar, and it's _perfection_."

"He still hasn't replaced that damn thing?" Fury asked, shaking his head. "I'm gonna have to send that boy something that isn't busted."

"And mess up the fung shui of the rest of his busted-up place?"

"Oh, don't you go startin' with that crap too," Fury said, shaking his head.

Now a bit more relaxed, the little group more or less watched as Kate tried to make friendly with Fury, surprising herself with how easily he chatted with them and went into telling old war stories while he went through the files that had been brought in until Logan returned with a still disgruntled-looking Hill.

"You been harassing my agents again?" Fury asked as Logan went to pour himself a cup of coffee.

"Maybe a little," he replied before he took a seat next to Fury. "So. What did you want done?"

"I have a little space mission I need handled, and I don't want to deal with SWORD," Fury said honestly. "Brand has been a pain — and power-hungry to boot, and frankly, if I'm hearing about this — she's not doing her job anyhow." He looked around at the gathered group. "I know the X-Men have probably more extensive experience in this area than the Avengers do, so I'm going to need you to work with them on this."

Logan looked a little confused for a moment. "Yeah, well ... I'm sure Storm is going to be a real pill."

Fury smirked and shook his head. "No — the _other_ X-Men." At that, Logan just kind of stared back at him before Fury continued, "It's a good thing that you've made nice with your little Kree buddy here; he's got a stellar reputation for taking the Skrulls down a notch or two."

"And I have an excellent ship," Noh added with a little smirk. "And a bone to pick with the Skrulls — that is the expression, yes?" he asked Jubilee.

"Yes, it is," Logan said distractedly before going right back to Fury. "What do you mean other X-Men — who do you want?"

"Only one, actually," Fury admitted, and just like that, Logan's good humor fell as the two of them just held each other's gaze for a long moment.

"Oh, come on," Logan said finally, looking a bit like the wind had been taken out of his sails.

"It'll be good," Kurt said, clearly understanding what Fury hadn't said aloud. "It's been too long. Don't you think you can find a way to forgive him?"

Logan looked around at the group. Fury was just waiting patiently, while Kurt looked hopeful, and Jubilee — well, she looked like she was holding her breath. The other two clearly didn't know who they were discussing.

"If he says no — we go without him," Logan replied, his finger pointed in Fury's face.

"Fine, but you still have to _ask_ him," Fury answered as he handed him a piece of paper with a set of coordinates on it. "That's where you can find him."

Logan took the coordinates and looked up at Fury. "You play dirty," he said with a little growl.

Fury just laughed. " _I_ play dirty? You worked over my second in command all the way here and I'm sure while she was doing her job finishing up too. I gave you what you wanted — and me asking for this? This is not playing dirty."

"Yes, but he doesn't want to do it," Jubilee supplied helpfully and Logan gave her a dirty look for her efforts that Fury had to smirk over.

Logan turned to Kurt. "You wanna give me a lift and get this over with? We can probably pop in and out just the two of us in a few minutes." He handed Kurt the coordinates, but Kurt glanced over at the other three.

"Are you sure you want to leave them here?" Kurt asked. "Even for a few minutes?" Logan glanced over at Hill for a moment and shook his head, and Kurt smiled. "Home then? For a moment."

"Hey — I wanna go too," Jubilee said, her hands on her hips. "I haven't seen him since I got un-vampired. So, can you port all of us, or do we need a ride?" she asked with her head tipped to one side.

"Can we join the party, or is this strictly only-if-you-know-who-the-heck-'he'-is?" Kate asked, unable to stand being left out of the loop any longer.

"No, you can go — just so I can shove it in your face that I am _not_ a hug magnet," Logan replied her way with a little growl.

"You don't have to make up a reason to bring me. You know you love me," Kate retorted with a lazy sort of grin.

"Well, and more witnesses to report to Fury that I was right and this trip is a waste of time is always a good thing," Logan shot back.

"I'll make sure to bring photographic evidence."

"Please do," Fury said with a smirk. "I think I _might_ want to frame it."

"See you later, Nicholas J Fury, Director of SHIELD," Logan called out as the group assembled, with the bamfs suddenly appearing now that they were ready to leave. One of them was particularly interested in Noh's hair and had managed to climb onto his shoulder to get a closer look at the shaped bangs on either side of his widow's peak.

Fury just shook his head with a smile and wished them luck before the group disappeared in a puff of smoke.


	3. Slim Pickings

_**From CC: Hey guys! Nice to see your thoughts and speculation! Griezz - I love the polar bear swims, but we have a slightly different definition in da yoop, eh? For us - the polar bear swims only happen in the winter when we gotta break the ice on the lake/pond and then go for a quick dip. Lake Superior or Lake Michigan in the winter to swim is no joke and the mad dash for the sauna afterward is highly recommended. ;)**_

 _ **BUT - Yes. Lots of X-Men have Shi'ar experience. Plenty of 'em. And - seein' as we're pickin' favorites …**_

 _ **O - PLEASE! I wanna see your Tiger drawing and your other drawings - and … I so totally still owe you a bamf pattern. (crap. Bad CC) We will be adding more things to make with the happy. Hopefully this chapter is a little insight on that - and Yes, we will likely explain ourselves next time around in the notes so as not to WRECK this beautiful surprise and all the meaning behind it. Because there is meaning and beauty and it makes my heart happy for all involved. And Scruffy - shhhhhhhush.**_

 _ **From robbie: I HEARTILY second the motion of fanart and Tiger drawing. PLEASE. Like CC said, I don't want to give away too much in the notes here because things happen. There is happiness. *physically restrains herself from typing more in her excitement about the happiness because spoilers shhh***_

 _ **But also - yes, we said we were gonna make everyone happy. Doesn't mean they're not still gonna have to fight people and deal with bad guys. (They ARE X-Men after all.) Just that they're gonna be healthy and happy when they're not fighting Kree, Shi'ar, and Skrulls, oh my :P**_

* * *

 **Chapter Three: Slim Pickings**

* * *

When the group of X-Men reappeared in the mansion after leaving the helicarrier, Logan just let out a sigh that clearly told those who knew him best that he was not looking forward to this mission. "Guess we should get this over with," he said at last as he turned to the others. "What are we taking? Blackbird would be bait."

"We can take my ship if you don't wish to bait this person," Noh offered, but Kurt and Logan were already sharing a look between them.

"You did say that your ship needed refueling. Are you sure it will make the trip?" Kurt asked politely.

Noh considered this for a moment before he let out a sigh. "Maybe we should take yours, then," he conceded.

"Then we can leave the uniforms behind for now," Logan said, before he looked over at Noh, who was still wearing his Marvel Boy getup. "You have anything that doesn't look like you fell off the moon?"

"I'm sure I can find some blue jeans," Noh said with a little smirk. "I did go through a bluegrass and flannel phase a year ago."

"Well," Logan said with a raised eyebrow. "We're headed to Alaska." When Noh just smiled and nodded at that, Logan just had to shake his head.

"I'll get my earmuffs," Kate said with a pretended longsuffering sigh before she glanced over at Kurt with a little smile. "And huddle with the fuzzy blue heater."

"You're lucky I'm so snuggly," Kurt replied without missing a beat.

"Yes. Yes I am," she agreed as she just laced her arm through his and put her head on his arm to prove the point, pulling herself nice and close.

"Whatever, I'm gonna go check the weather report," Logan grumbled, half growling to himself. "Make sure we don't end up in something that'll crash the plane and have to listen to the two of you until you die of frostbite."

"Oh, are we being obnoxious?" Kate asked in pretended surprise as she looked over at Logan, who was already headed away from the snuggly pair.

"Don't tease him, liebling," Kurt said gently in her ear. "He is truly not looking forward to this … discussion."

"You know you have a Tiger you can hug if you need it," Kate called out to him.

Logan just flat out ignored her as he continued down the hall, obviously in no mood to play. "Maybe we should switch out me for Storm," Logan called back, clearly addressing Kurt. "She's got a better shot at this."

"It's a shame she's in Wakanda right now, then," Kurt replied, though the look on his face told Kate that he didn't want to switch out his best friend for Storm even if she had been around. "I believe she will be back in a few weeks, if this goes as poorly as you think and we need to repair the damage," he added with a light smile. "Though that… is not nearly as likely as you may think."

Logan didn't acknowledge him as he kept walking, and Kurt just let out a little sigh. He turned his attention back to Kate as he pressed a little kiss into the edge of her jaw before he whispered to her, "You are about to witness the two most stubborn people I know meet up."

"I can't decide if I should be insulted I don't rank or pack snacks," Kate replied, trying to lighten the mood.

"You should be proud," a voice said from the ceiling, surprising them both before Peter Parker dropped down next to them. "It takes highly advanced levels of stubborn to meet up to that standard."

Kate just grinned at Peter. "Well I'll just have to work harder on my stubborn," she said before she bit her lip and decided to see if she could drop a fun bombshell on Peter while he was here. "I was planning on practicing my stubborn anyway, seeing as we're about to send out the press release on the new publishing standards at my office. Gotta warm up for JJ."

"Dowha-huh now?" he asked, turning her way quickly - his expression so confused and shocked that she only just kept from openly celebrating the success of her bombshell.

Kate giggled and waved her hand. "It's been in the works for weeks. I had Jenny and Matt Murdock help me add in a whole new section of policy on hate speech for Bishop Publishing. You should read the release. Murdock can write."

"Oh, man. And ... you're going to speak with JJ about hate speech?" Peter asked with a disbelieving look.

"Well, Bobby said I should be ready for it, anyway." Kate shrugged. "And he's the news expert around here. I think he's making a big deal out of nothing — JJ won't come for me until I start dropping authors who violate the policy." She grinned a little wider as she said it.

"Don't be so sure about that," Peter replied, honestly looking concerned for her. "He ... doesn't play by anyone's rules but his own."

"Same here." Kate just kept grinning at him, not too worried about the whole thing.

"Oooh, yeah," Peter said, waggling his finger at her as he drew himself up a bit in his best "I am older and more experienced" impression as he looked her way. "When you get back from this daring do whatever it is — we're going to have to have a nice long talk, young lady."

"I'll take notes." She smirked at him for a moment, her head tipped to one side. "Who knows. If he really ticks me off, I might just ask Spiderman to write a book for me. I bet it would be a best-seller. And it would annoy the heck out of him to see that wall-crawling little — what's he call you? Menace? — succeed in his turf."

"Um ... we'll come back to that?"

Kate grinned and zipped over to ruffle Peter's hair — which seemed to always make him laugh because he was older than her — before she said, "Think about it, Spidey. It's a good job offer. I happen to know the boss is nice."

"I'm sure she is," Peter said, smiling despite himself as he tried to smooth his hair back down. "But I'm serious, Kate. You don't want to tangle with JJ without some serious preparation."

Kate just gave his arm a little squeeze. "It's so cute that you worry about me," she said, but when Peter still looked serious, she just let out a breath and gave him a real hug, no longer teasing him. "Really, it's sweet." She squeezed him a bit tighter and then added, "We'll chat when we get back, okay? Promise."

He just hugged her back for a moment and then shook his head at her, but he didn't try to stop them from heading after Logan so they could get their show on the road — though he did mutter at Kurt as he passed, "Guess this is one lesson she wants to learn for herself?"

Kurt just chuckled as he passed Peter. "As ever," he said quietly, and Kate just gave both of them a look as she walked backwards down the hallway to glare at them before Kurt just laughed and teleported them both down to the hangar, still giving her a teasing grin even after the smoke had cleared.

When they got to the blackbird, Logan was just sitting in the pilot seat, a cigar between his teeth and his hands resting on his thighs as he just glared down at the panels. Jubilee and Noh were already on board, and it wasn't until the hatch had been closed that anyone considered taking up copilot spot.

Kurt kissed Kate on the side of her head and promised to catch up later — and to discuss how to deal with Spiderman acting like a big brother all of a sudden — as he slipped up to join Logan, who hadn't said a word since anyone's arrival.

"Who are we going to see that has Wolverine so … irritated?" Noh asked Jubilee quietly.

"Oh no, I am not ruining this one for you two," Jubilee said with a smirk directed at both Kate and Noh, her hands behind her head as she leaned back in her seat. "It's going to be too epic for me to wreck."

"So long as no one loses a limb in the process," Noh said with a small smile.

"I cannot guarantee that," Jubilee replied with a matching smile.

Kate just settled in to play with a couple of the bamfs, tickling them and ruffling their hair and grinning at the two of them. She directed her question at the bamfs, but it was clear from her volume that she meant the others to hear: "I didn't tell Spidey that Fury assigned me to play photographer for this particular meetup. Do you think he'll be jealous when we get back?"

"Oh my God," Jubilee said, sitting up straighter. "You better have your camera ready. I'm going to film this."

"Oh, I'm totally ready. Anything that had Fury smirking like that? Definitely camera-worthy," Kate assured her.

Jubilee all but cackled in response. "You have no idea." She grinned widely. "You should totally blog this. Best. post. Ever."

"Oh," Kate said, laughing now. "It's so going on the blog."

"Teddy and Billy are going to die," Jubilee laughed, looking far too excited to be allowed. "You have no idea."

Kate just grinned in response. "You know it."

Noh looked like he was going to ask just what it was that their friends were going to die over when the bamf from earlier, the one that had been interested in his hair, poofed right in front of his face, wide-eyed and looking very serious. He very slowly approached the top of Noh's head before, quickly, he jammed one of Kate's headbands on Noh's head and then stepped back to look over his work before he quickly shook his little head, took the headband back, and bamfed away again.

Kate burst into laughter. "Oh, I was wondering where that headband went. Have you guys been hoarding my stuff again?" she teased as she looked down at the bamfs, who just burst into giggles and didn't seem to answer her one way or the other.

"It's because they think you have good taste," Jubilee teased.

"Oh no. They held my scarf hostage for kisses the other day. They're totally just… little demons," Kate corrected, ruffling the hair on one bamf's head affectionately.

"Well, yeah." Jubilee grinned, and the three of them fell into easy conversation as Kate relayed some of the other trouble she and the bamfs had been getting up to — sometimes involving pranks played on her, and sometimes involving a bamf-Kate teamup on Kurt that always somehow ended up with the fuzzy blue Elf just whisking Kate off somewhere to kiss the ridiculousness out of her, which seemed to be the whole point of the pranks.

Finally, Logan found a good spot to take the jet down outside of Anchorage, and when they landed, and old friend of his met them there with a grin. It was the first time since they had decided to take on this trip that Logan had worn anything even resembling a smile as he grasped the older looking man's hand and the two of them greeted each other warmly.

"Harry, you remember my friends Kurt and Jubilee, don't you?" Logan said as the rest of them walked up to the two old friends.

Harry Tabeshaw grinned widely at them. "Oh — that can't be the same little Jubilee all grown up, is it?" Jubilee just rolled her eyes and bounced over to give the old man a kiss on the cheek.

"Nice to see you too," she said. "You still have that old bucket of bolts for a plane?"

Harry looked mortally offended for a moment before gesturing behind him to an open hangar. "You know I don't leave home without her," he said as the others looked to see the old WWII bomber tucked away inside. He handed Logan the keys to a SUV parked near by. "Got you the wheels you asked for. Try not to give it back in the same condition as last time, eh?"

"For this little run, I'm not makin' any promises," Logan replied before he waved Kate over. "You should meet Kate — not Katie — and her friend Noh. They're the newest troublemakers to this little crew."

"And the most awesome since Jubes," Kate informed him before she held out her hand for Harry to shake. "Nice to meet you."

"Oh, if that's the case, I'm gonna need to hold your credit card, Logan," Harry teased. "I know how awesome usually turns out." He took Kate's hand and gave her a warm smile. "Don't let him get you into too much trouble."

"Oh please," she said with a little grin. "I get him into trouble."

Harry straightened up a bit. "You say that like it's hard."

"It's really not," she agreed, grinning wider. "But oh so fun."

Harry just nodded his head in agreement before he just turned to the group as a whole, waved, and started to head back inside. "Have fun, welcome to Alaska, kids!" he called out. "I'm headed into the pilot's lounge."

With that, the little group loaded up, with Kurt playing navigator through the neighborhoods around Anchorage until they found the street they were looking for.

"You sure this is it?" Logan asked as they took in the little cottages spaced up and down the street. Everything about it looked very much like a gingerbread village, coated in snow with smoke curling out of the chimneys. "Looks like a damn story book."

"These are the coordinates Fury gave us," Kurt said, looking around them with a similarly disbelieving look.

"Then I'll have to make sure he's not a Skrull," Logan muttered.

"I can help with that," Noh offered politely, finally finding a part of the conversation that he could understand.

"If you want to double check, sure," Logan said. "But they haven't been able to get past my nose yet."

Finally they turned into one driveway, and when Kate saw the name on the mailbox, she turned to Jubilee with pure excitement in her eyes and whipped out her cell phone quickly. "Oh, you were right. This will so be amazing."

With the two girls at the ready with cell phones, the little group approached the nicely painted front door with a holly wreath on the door knocker. Logan glanced over his shoulder for just an instant before he knocked and just half held his breath until a very pretty, bright-eyed brunette opened the door."

"Oh, hello!" she said, taking them in for a moment. "Are y'all here for Scott, or are you carrolin' early?"

"No, we're — is this Scott Summers' place?" Logan asked in a bit of disbelief.

She nodded with a bright smile, her light Southern accent honey-dripping as she said, "Yes, sir. You've come to the right place. Why don't y'all come inside from the cold? You look half frozen to death standin' out there, and I'm sure I can make more cocoa."

Logan just stared at her for a moment before Kurt answered for him. "Danke, yes, please," he said as he pushed Logan ahead of him and glanced at Jubilee with a little bit of a nervous look.

As they walked into the little house, a little girl with dark pigtails in bright pink bows came running down the stairs and all but froze in her tracks when she saw the assembled group. "Oooh, Aunt Annie, who are they?" she asked, grabbing onto the brunette's hand to pull on it.

"They came to say hi to Scott, Leslie Ann," Annie explained as she reached down and scooped up the little girl and booped her on the nose. "Say hi."

"Hi." The girl opened and closed her hand with a shy giggle before she burst out with, "Are you X-Men like Uncle Scott?"

Logan and Kurt were just staring at her in silence for a moment before Logan very slowly nodded his head and raised one finger to his lips. "That's supposed to be secret."

Leslie Ann giggled and nodded, pressing a finger to her lips. "Ooh. Okay. I can keep secrets," she agreed before she loudly whispered, "I'm gonna be an X-Man someday."

"Then we're gonna be good friends," Logan told her with a little smile he just couldn't quite stop..

Annie was beaming through the whole exchange before they made their way toward the living room, where she called out, "Scott! You have some visitors."

The group of them were surprised when it only took a second for a familiar sunglasses-wearing face to pop up from the floor in the next room over — where he had apparently been tackled by a toddler. The little girl, who looked much like Leslie Ann, was still attached to his leg as he got to his feet and looked over the group for a long moment without saying anything.

"Hey, Slim," Logan said finally when it was clear that no one wanted to break the moment.

Scott finally stopped staring at the group at that and swept over in a few long strides and surprised every single one of them when he simply wrapped both arms around Logan. "You were dead," he said simply. "I thought—" He hugged Logan a bit tighter. "Welcome back."

"Scott—" Logan said quietly, completely unsure of what to do with him and clearly not expecting that to be Scott's reaction, before he relaxed his shoulders a bit and did what he could to return the gesture.

A few short moments later Scott just released him and took a step back, cleared his throat, and bent down to pick up the little girl at his feet. "You probably didn't come all this way just to say hello," he said with a little nod, not addressing or mentioning what had just happened.

"No, not really," Logan said, still frowning a bit as he looked Scott up and down, openly confused about the little girl that was so attached to him — not to mention the entire setup he'd found him in. "Fury sent me. He wants you in on a mission."

Scott frowned for a moment and shook his head. "He should ask Cyclops — the younger one. I don't really do that anymore."

"The little punk that stole my motorcycle? No," Logan replied with a dismissive shake. "He wants the good one."

"What for?" Scott asked, still frowning slightly.

"We have a little Skrull problem brewing," Logan said. "And he thought you'd be the right guy to head it up."

Scott just kept right on frowning deeper at that and took a moment to set the girl in his arms down with whispered instructions for her to go find her mother. When he looked back up, he crossed his arms. "I don't think he wants me heading up anything."

"It's more or less what his paperwork said," Logan replied, avoiding the fact that there was no mention of who was to lead the team. "But — this is the team he's sending." He gestured to the rest of the group around him.

Scott looked over the other four and broke into an actual smile when he saw Jubilee. "When did you find a cure?" he asked, genuinely pleased.

"Oh, you know. Not long after Logan got back. Reed Richards had a theory and he and Dr. Banner figured out how to reverse it. Just took about three gallons of this guy." She tipped her head Logan's way, then rushed over to throw her arms around Scott's neck in a hug,. "Missed you."

Scott picked her up off the ground as he returned the hug. "That's great news, Jubilee!" he told her.

"Got my sparkles back too," she told him brightly.

"Really?" He grinned wider. "I'm sure you're taking the world by storm."

"Trying to," she said with a theatrical sigh. "It'd be easier if I had my fearless leader, though."

"Oh, I'm sure you can do it without me. I'm surprised you're not running the X-Men by now," Scott told her. "Seeing as you're no longer a vampire."

"You never finished my training," she accused him, poking him in the chest.

He held up both hands and just shook his head with a smile. "Well, that is my fault, then. But give it another few years. I'm sure I'll see you on the cover of every newspaper."

"Come on, Slim," Logan said. "Can't tell me you don't want to go with."

At that, Scott let out a little snort and shrugged lightly. He seemed to think about it for a moment, looking over the little gathered group — as Jubilee was bouncing slightly, and Kurt couldn't stop the grin that had started somewhere when Scott hugged Logan and just kept right on.

"I can't miss Christmas," Scott said at last, emphatically. "Annie's entire family is coming."

"From what I understand, this is a fairly close mission," Logan told him. "And even if we don't finish, we'll get you back with time to spare. But there has to be a reason Fury wanted you outside of thinkin' it'd be funny to send me out here."

"Search me." Scott shrugged lightly. "Given my track record lately."

"What's wrong with your track record that the rest of us haven't done?" Logan asked. "Can't be as bad as some. Or did I miss something else?"

Scott just gave Logan a very dry look with one eyebrow raised before he switched subjects. "I didn't keep a uniform. But — there should be a couple at the mansion, unless they were used for target practice."

"Not my style," Logan replied with a wave.

"Alright then." Scott let out a breath and looked over at the others, still clearly thinking it over before he broke into a little smirk.. "I'm in — but you'll have to get Annie's permission too."

Logan raised an eyebrow his way. "Oh? Why's that?"

Scott just smirked wider and gestured for them to follow him out of the living room toward the kitchen, where Annie was with the two little girls as well as a woman who looked just like her, though several years older. "Annie," he called out to her. "I'd like you to meet some of my old teammates." He turned back to the group with a small smile. "Jubilee, I'd like you to meet my fiance," he said, gesturing for Jubilee to step forward as Logan and Kurt shared a quick look and tried to hide the grins that were creeping across their faces.

"So you're Jubilee, are you?" Annie asked with a smile that was just too wide to be allowed. "I've heard so much about you."

"Guilty as charged," Jubilee said with a little bounce as she stepped forward and gave her a quick hug. "Hope he didn't tell you all the bad stuff that I pulled in my well-spent youth."

"Oh, honey, I teach five-year-olds. Nothing he says could possibly surprise me," Annie said with a little laugh and a wave of her hand. "But the way he talks about you and your friends — you could do no wrong." She glanced over at Scott with that same smile, and he looked like he was racing to catch up his blush to the shade of his glasses. She looked beyond him to Kurt and waved him over too. "And of course, you have to be Nightcrawler. It's nice to meet you in person."

"Charmed," Kurt replied as he gently took her hand with a little squeeze.

"And this is Wolverine," Kate added helpfully, gesturing to Logan and clearly enjoying herself as she made a point to save the pictures she was getting of the hug fest.

"Oh, I heard you were alive on the news!" Annie said with a delighted sort of bounce to her step as she abandoned Kurt to go to Logan, the ever-present smile still there. "We were all so relieved to hear it."

He just gave her a bit of a tight smile as he looked up at Scott for a moment. There was a short pause before he just couldn't stop himself. "You missed me, didn't you?"

Scott blatantly ignored him as he looked over his head at the other two in the group. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your names earlier."

"Right," Logan said, smirking at him as he waved the two former Young Avengers over. "Scott, this is Hawkeye — you can call her Katie — and this is Jubilee's new toy. Not sure where she found him. I call him Bug Boy."

"Do not call me Katie," Kate said as she grabbed up Scott's hand to shake it. "You can call me Kate." She glared over at Logan. "He thinks he's being funny, but he's not."

"I'm well-versed," Scott replied with a smirk.

Noh waved Scott's way as well for a moment. "I would prefer not to be called Bug Boy if at all possible," he said mildly. "Noh-Varr or Noh will do."

"If it bothers you that much, he'll stop sooner or later," Scott assured him as he shook Noh's hand. "It's a matter of patience, unfortunately."

"Or how irritated I am at you," Logan added. "Got about a dozen for Slim here."

Annie laughed at Scott's expression as she looked over the group of heroes. "And are y'all here for a social call, or is this official business?" she asked with a twinkle in her eye. She leaned over to Jubilee and added, "Please tell me it's official business. I think he misses it terribly."

"It is," Logan promised. "We were just asking if he'd help us on a little project."

Annie nodded quietly and then turned to Scott, one hand on her hip as she asked him pointedly, "Do you want to go?" When he just nodded, she smiled wide. "Then go! Don't let me stop you."

"Alright then." Scott couldn't help but grin at her enthusiasm, and when he looked Logan's way, Logan tossed him a set of keys.

"You do remember how to fly 'er, don't you?"

At that, Scott broke into an honest-to-goodness grin. "Of course I do."

"Then let's get you back to Westchester to suit up," Logan told him, already headed out.

The little gathering of Southern girls waved to the X-Men — the little girls a bit shy around the strangers but the two women sharing knowing looks. "It was nice meetin' y'all," Annie said sincerely as the group got ready to leave. "Don't go gettin' in too much trouble, now, you hear?"

Logan smirked Scott's way, his eyes twinkling, but he didn't say a word as Scott steadfastly tried to ignore him while he said some quick 'see you laters' to the group then simply followed the other X-Men out the door.

"Shut up, Logan," he muttered out as soon as the door was shut behind them.

"I … didn't say a thing," Logan said with a grin that he didn't even bother trying to hide - particularly since Scott was pointedly not looking at him.

"You were going to."

"No. No ... I was just … going to enjoy the honeyed moment," he replied, the smile evident in his voice.

Scott looked up at the sky and let out a breath. "At least I don't have to wonder if it's the real you," he said, shaking his head.

"You had me worried with the hug," Logan told him. "I thought I might have to kill you until I realized — you just missed me. Now I'm … well, I'm — touched."

"Yeah. Touched is the word for it," Scott said, smirking.

"Good to have you back, Scotty," Logan replied with a little laugh as they headed out.

Kate paused when she heard the nickname, though, and looked over her shoulder to give Logan a strange look. "You always call him Scotty?" she asked, an unreadable expression on her face.

"Like he said, it depends on how irritated he is," Scott explained. "Strangely enough, he only ever uses my given name if he's upset." He gave Logan a look with both eyebrows clearly raised behind his glasses.

Logan just stared his way for a moment, the smile gone now. "If I knew your middle name, I'd use it when I was really pissed," Logan told him frankly.

"Good thing my parents had the foresight not to give me one, then," Scott replied without missing a beat.

"That's terrible," Logan said, shaking his head. "How did you know when you were in trouble?"

"Me? In trouble?" Scott gave Logan a look. "Not at that age, anyway."

"Right. Didn't know they gave out demerits in the boy scouts," Logan muttered. "Penalize you by makin' you walk extra old ladies across the street?"

Completely undeterred by the picking going on, Kate was grinning between the two X-Men and slightly bouncing on her feet as she cut in. "Well it's just that — I was wondering if you and Annie… you know, if you had any kids, what would you name them? Because Logan here — the older version, I mean — he had a little Scotty after we were all dead in the other timeline." She grinned wide at both of them to catch their reactions.

"He what?" Logan and Scott said at exactly the same time, though it was clear from Logan's expression that he was a bit more shaken by that than even Scott was — who looked as if he just didn't believe Kate's story one bit.

"Oh, didn't I tell you that?" Kate asked in a high giggle. "Older you came from a time when all of us were dead in the far future — except, I guess, Clint — and he missed you, Scott!" She said delightedly. She just beamed that much wider when the two men gaped at her. "Little bitty Scotty. Very touching," she said with her hands behind her back, leaned forward and just flat enjoying herself.

"What is she talking about?" Scott asked quickly, turning to Logan, who had not yet recovered. "I thought her handle was Hawkeye — not… has she been time-traveling, or…?"

"I dunno what the hell she's talking about," Logan replied quickly. "She said she's one of the Young Avengers. Clearly she's off her damn rocker."

Kate just grinned at both of them before she finally decided to let them in on her secret and turned to Scott to explain. "You know the Old Logan that's been around? From an alternate timeline? When he first showed up, I ran with him for a little bit, and he was really grumpy. I mean. More than this one." She jerked her thumb over her shoulder at Logan.

"I somehow don't believe that," Scott said, but Kate just powered right on.

"Well, he sorta had a reason, because — in that future, all the heroes were killed. All of us — except one or two who were badly hurt or, well, had healing powers." She looked over at Logan. "And that Logan? He had a little boy named Scotty. That's why… I asked about the nicknames." She was still grinning wide as both of them looked unable to process it. "Itty bitty Scotty after you were long gone."

"But, that was a different timeline," Scott pointed out, immediately dismissing it.

"Pretty darn similar to ours," Kate insisted, still grinning. "So much so it took us, like, the better part of a day to figure out it was an alternate one, and only because I'm a Hawkeye and I notice the little things." She grinned and pointed at her head to indicate her level of acute awareness before she continued. "Live in denial land all you want, but for the record?" She turned her attention to Logan. "You were wrong, and I was right."

That was enough to get Logan out of his stunned silence and he quickly refocused to just give her a glare for a minute. "Hey, Scotty, is there a lake around here? Someone is begging for a swim."

"About a mile north of here," Scott supplied helpfully, fast latching on to the change in topic.

"Wanna help me throw 'er in?" There was an edge of a growl in his voice as he took a couple steps toward Kate. 

"Maybe after we get back from dealing with whatever problem Director Fury has in mind for us," Scott said with a little smirk as he twirled the keys in his hands, though it was obvious he was enjoying seeing someone else on the teasing end of Logan's growls. "Maybe we'll find a pool while we're out in the meantime if you can't wait that long."

"Oh, I can wait for half -frozen Alaskan lake," Logan agreed.

Kate put both hands on her hips and planted her feet. "You're just sore because you can't admit you're a giant hug magnet," she said, pointing her finger at Logan. "But I am so totally right. And I have evidence! No lake will change that!"

Logan growled a little lower and looked like he was clearly reconsidering waiting when Scott decided to try and intervene.

"I think she might be touched too," Scott said to Logan, shaking his head. "Where do you keep finding them?"

"This one was on the helicarrier with Cap. You'd think he wouldn't lead me wrong," Logan replied with an unmistakable tone of disappointment.

Scott smirked. "That's what happens when you make assumptions."

"If Kurt didn't like you so much, I'd drop you off where I found you," Logan half snapped Kate's way, and she just grinned that much wider and drew a halo over her head.

"She and Kurt?" Scott had to stop and turn to Logan in surprise. "When did that happen?"

"About thirty seconds after they met," Logan replied dryly, trying to shake off the irritation.

Scott shook his head with a little smirk. "This is what I get for dropping out of touch for so long," he muttered.

"Yeah, I wouldn't try and blame yourself for all this mess," Logan told him. "You should have seen them in Madripoor. They were makin' the locals uncomfortable, and you know how hard that is."

"He can't complain," Kate informed Scott cheerfully. "He's the one that introduced us. More or less."

"Not my fault you were taggin' along when you did," Logan told her, just to rile her, and Scott smirked wider when he saw the look on her face at that.

"I," she said haughtily, "was not a tagalong. You tagged along."

"I tagged — I tagged along with you?" Logan put on his very best disbelieving expression as he turned to face her. "On the way to my house? HOW?"

"Just because I let you choose the destinations doesn't mean you were in charge," she countered, hands on her hips.

"I showed you how to hotwire the SHIELD jet too, or you'd still be followin' Cap around like a puppy dog," Logan told her.

"Kinda sounds like you tagged along," Scott said her way with a tiny smirk.

She pointed a finger at Scott. "You weren't there. It was a teamup, at the very least."

"Who got you out of your charges?" Logan asked, a smug smile starting up at the corner of his mouth.

"Who got me into those charges?"

"Tagalong."

"Hug magnet."

"Likely another reason for you to Tag. Along," Logan said, emphasizing the last two words for more effect, the two of them now only about a foot away from each other.

"Only to document it," she said, holding her phone in one hand and grinning — she'd sent the picture long ago and had a text from Fury to prove it. "For Fury to frame."

But Logan just grinned at her. "Finally admitting it like a good little sidekick."

She let out a frustrated little 'oooh' sound and clenched her fists. "Like I'd be caught dead in tiger stripes and cowboy boots!"

"Never together," Logan corrected her as Scott finally broke down laughing.

"This is much better from this side," Scott said after a little gasp to get his breath.

"You're welcome to dive in any time, Slim. Fresh blood to work with," Logan said with a smirk.

"Oh no, I'd totally wipe the floor with you," Kate threatened Scott's way. "No, you stay out of this. This — this is between me and Radar O'Reilly."

"Funny, I thought he was more a Colonel Potter," Jubilee broke in with a giggle. "Grumpy and old." She looked at Kate with a frown. "And — I'm pretty sure that Radar did the hugging, not got hugged."

"If I'm the colonel, I guess that makes me in charge, Sergeant Pierce," Logan said to Kate with narrowed eyes and an unmistakable smirk.

Kate glared over at him. "Captain!" she corrected him before she just lunged at him and tackled him into the snow. "And you, Radar, are not the boss of me!" she told him, punctuating every word with an attempt to shove more snow in his face — which only had Scott laughing harder, leaning against the nearest tree to keep from doubling over.

"You were demoted for being a delusional tagalong, Sergeant!" Logan insisted as he was, of course, retaliating with snow shoved into her face. The snow-bound wrestling match was fierce, even as they both laughed like a pair of loons as the battle waged on.

"Are we going to fight Skrulls?" Kurt asked at last, shaking his head at the two of them. "Or are you two going to continue to act like five-year-olds?"

"Come on, Elf," Logan said with a laugh as the last of the snow flew back and forth. "You know she's only four and a half."

"Actually, by Kurfuffluffian years, that's not too far off," Noh put in helpfully, watching the exchange with a little smirk.

But the slow I-told-you-so raised eyebrow look Logan gave her did not help the situation at all, and she shouted, "Don't encourage him!" Noh's way as she tried very hard to get out of a tickling hold. When Logan finally let her up, she was still giggling and red-faced and pretending to still be mad at him. "You're horrible."

"You love it," Logan countered as Scott gave him a hand up out of the snow, tears still on his cheeks from laughing so hard.

"If you say so," she giggled. She grabbed Kurt by the hand but was still looking his way as she stuck her tongue out at Logan. She brushed herself off for a moment and then beamed at Scott, "So — I'm totally copilot, right?"

"Oh, now you wanna tagalong with him? Traitor," Logan muttered, which only got Scott to grin as Logan and Kurt fell into a quiet conversation a few steps behind the group.

"How much time have you logged on the simulator?" Scott asked, still in high spirits as Logan just grinned wider at her.

"I got fast-tracked," Kate said with a smirk.

"That really doesn't answer my question," Scott pointed out.

Kate just waved her hand at him. "I went from spaceships to the blackbird. Simulators are for students, and I'm so not one."

"She did pilot my craft for the better part of a year," Noh said helpfully. "Though Kree-based psych-tech is perhaps not the same as what you have. Still — I've heard no complaints."

Scott looked Noh's way for a moment before the recognition clicked. "You're the one that Logan sent home in the blackbird."

Noh nodded. "I made sure to return it in pristine condition — as far as possible."

"You did," Scott agreed. "You're welcome to co-pilot."

"He-ey," Kate said, arms crossed over her chest. "He's flown it once. I've flown it multiple times!"

"Yeah, but he can identify the tech and see the differences in them," Scott explained. "Maybe I want some input on how to improve what we have."

"I can offer insights in that regard easily," Noh said with a little smirk at his old teammate as she was clearly annoyed at being pre-empted. "The Shi'ar components are outdated at best, far from intuitive — not nearly elegant enough."

"I'd like to see how your intuitive controls work," Scott said, hands in his pockets as he leaned forward, a little smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth as he was clearly excited to talk a little shop. "Sounds interesting to say the least."

Noh positively beamed. "When we return to New York, I'll show you the controls of my ship. I'd be interested to see her configuration for another mutant. Jubilee's steering controls were ... unexpected."

"How so?" Scott asked with a very interested look at Jubilee, who was just watching the whole exchange with a delighted smile, though as Noh and Scott kept on their conversation, she had turned back to Kate so the two could compare notes and Kate could show off her correspondence with Fury.

"I have never seen such a combination of Shi'ar, Earth, and… well, I'm not entirely sure what else. Though she didn't steer often enough for me to determine it," Noh admitted as he and Scott led the way.

"I'll admit to wishing we had better systems in place that weren't Shi'ar tech," Scott said with a shake of his head. "We had a guy that could take it and twist it to our needs better — but sometimes it was enough Shi'ar anyhow that when we came across trouble — it would lock up for the Imperial guards to catch up to us." He looked at Noh for a moment. "I think it's pretty safe to say that our ties with them are all but washed up with the new Emperor in charge, though."

"While I cannot say I can offer you better ties to the rest of the Kree Empire — I can at least address your systems issues," Noh said with a little smile.

Scott smirked at him for a moment. "I think we learned the hard way that too many inter-galactic ties cause more trouble than it's worth."

"I tend to agree," Noh sighed, this time a bit more subdued. "Split loyalties are… difficult to manage at best."

"We've had more trouble with random attacks on us simply because of the old alliance with Lillandra," Scott admitted. "She and Charles ... Charles was a consort to her for quite some time."

Noh raised both eyebrows high as he stopped in his tracks. "This… this would be the man known as Professor X, yes?" he asked in a careful tone.

Scott looked a bit strained but nodded his head in response. "She didn't fit in with the rest of the Shi'ar very well," Scott said quietly. "And they didn't take the idea of change at all."

Noh muttered a few words under his breath in a language that sounded Kree, though slightly altered. "No, they wouldn't," he said with slightly narrowed eyes. He let out a sigh and tried to straighten his shoulders a bit. "Though I can sympathize with being seen as… outside one's own kind." He shook his head. "An alliance with Shi'ar…" he muttered under his breath. "The very idea."

"It's defunct if it makes you feel any better," Scott said. "Seeing as both Lillandra and Charles are … gone."

Noh just nodded once and straightened up again. "Well in that case, it is definitely preferable for you to have at least some renovations to your systems. With no alliance in place, it would be difficult — even more so — if your technology turned against you. I'll take a look at it."

"I appreciate it," Scott said with a smirk in place. "I really look forward to working with you."

"And I you," Noh said, a bit of the smile returning. "I meant it when I said I was interested to see you fly the ship." He swept his arm out to indicate the blackbird. "And perhaps while we fly back to New York you can tell me how such a kind soul as your Professor X came to be consort to … to dally with the Shi'ar."

"Well it started with the Phoenix and the M'Kraan Crystal..." Scott started to say as they boarded the blackbird.


	4. Did I Miss A Telepathic Bond?

**From CC: Before I catch any flack, I'm gonna say this quick. The Scott portrayed in the movies … is not canon Scott. Comic Scott … I have not liked because Marvel has totally overlooked his POTENTIAL. Amazing character. Great background - the fact that he and Logan have a strained relationship full of ups and downs (greatly exaggerated by MANY writers - for full notes, PM me.) but above it all, Logan (until this recent idiot writing them) has always** _ **trusted**_ **Scott. I love Slim when he's written right, but that rarely happens. So. I'll let robbie handle most of that - bc. She is the President of the Scott Summers fan club, whereas I only have a lifetime membership that I neglect from time to time, but I'm the quiet one in the back that will go all nuclear when need be. And. It need be.**

 **From robbie: *straightens up importantly at her new presidential title* Yes good we are so excited to finally introduce to you Annie Hale, who we are very proud of and who is made of sunshine and Southern-ness. :) The true OTP here is Scott Summers/happiness because he is one of those characters at the top of our list of people Marvel has screwed over that we are rescuing from Marvel until they can prove they are responsible enough to handle him. (Along with our main five characters already in this team, of course.)**

 **As to what happened to Emma, we're giving Scott credit for getting out of that relationship. That pairing is SO toxic. Textbook emotional abuse, not only in the way she literally uses her powers to screw with his mind but in gaslighting and controlling behavior… we're giving him the credit for finally realizing that he deserves better and LEAVING. And we are giving him instead someone who is normal, who is kind, and who will actually *gasp*** _ **love and support him**_ **. Because that boy, despite the fact that he's way uptight, is actually full of love and he deserves someone who will give him just as much as he pours into his relationships. #ProtectScottSummers2K16**

 **As to the question of JJ… Both of us are longtime Marvel fans, well-versed in comics (CC has been reading them since long before I was even born!) and actually, Zero Tolerance is one of my personal favorite JJ stories because it shows that side of him. That particular storyline actually changed the way I write JJ forever when I read it. (I am also a big fan of his character in the Ultimates storyline as he tried to make amends in the wake of Peter Parker's death.) But we call it like we see it. JJ is ultimately a good person, but that doesn't make him any less a bigot. He doesn't like people who don't fit his mold of what is "supposed to be," and that is, by definition, bigotry. That doesn't make him any less one of our favorite characters, but let's admit that he has that flaw and own up to the fact that it makes him a semi-antagonist to a group that, in his own words, is made up of "terrorists."**

 **Obviously, in this universe, we're playing up his antagonism (because this is a whole new universe, the 714, so we reserve the right to make some tweaks; JJ is not the only character in this universe that is a little more antagonistic than you'd expect from a pure fluff fic (which this is not even though it is a lot of FUN) but again, this is all through the lense of the people he hates, so of course they don't like him. They don't get to see his quiet moments of being awesome), but at no point is he ever calling for violence or civil rights abuses. He's just spewing his rhetoric against them, which is obviously upsetting to the people on the other end of the label "menace." Now, the people who try to use JJ's hatred of "non-sanctioned" heroes (aka anyone outside the FF and Avengers) as excuses for their hateful acts are obviously the bigger problem, but just because JJ doesn't call for rounding up mutants doesn't mean he isn't problematic. But we love him anyway, we promise. He's made up of rage and hate and bluster, but his heart is ultimately in the right place. He's just also very, very wrong on a whole lot, and on a national stage, and there are consequences for that - and he has a very, very hard time admitting that he's wrong. Ever. Which there are also consequences for. (We love consequences.) Trust us; we have plans for him. Long, long-term plans. You will be surprised. You will love him; you will hate him. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll be moved, Bob. But this isn't 616 JJ. This is 714 JJ, and he's…. Well. You'll see.**

 **Plus, let's be real. JJ is happiest when he has someone to argue with. And we're all about making people happy ;)**

 **Also, *raises nerd hand* as someone who was raised on Star Trek: TNG, I can fake techno-babble with the best of them, so I seriously appreciate the fact that my alien tech nonsense is being recognized :P**

… **.wow that's a lot of notes sorry lol. I guess we have opinions and we are also SUPER EXCITED to make Scooter happy and healthy ;) The tl;dr here I guess is that this is a whole new universe, so we're actively changing some comic book canon. Some of that is to make people who deserve to be happy - happy. And some of that (see: JJ, Maria Hill, a few others) is to bring in a few semi-antagonists that aren't actually evil, just misguided. Because we are suckers for nuance. ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter Four: Did I Miss A Telepathic Bond?**

* * *

Once they'd gotten back to the mansion and everyone had their uniforms and, in Kate's case, weapons — the team boarded Noh's ship as the former Marvel Boy seemed delighted to show Scott around, pointing out several systems that he already had ideas about integrating with the blackbird's systems. Noh seemed to love the idea of having something that he could contribute to helping the X-Men, and Scott was genuinely interested in the idea of intuitive controls — though when he sat down at them and they morphed into something that looked very familiar to Noh, Noh had to pause.

"That," he said, looking over the display, "is not what I expected."

"Is that a good thing or a bad one?" Scott asked, looking genuinely curious.

Noh turned his attention from the controls to Scott and frowned even deeper for a long moment. "Have you by any chance heard of the Starjammers?" he asked politely.

Scott rubbed the back of his neck for a moment at the question. "Ah, yeah. As a matter of fact," Scott said with a little sheepish grin.

"I very recently had dealings with them when they stormed my ship, and this—" Noh gestured to the controls. "—seems to be much like their ship's controls. With modifications, of course. I can see your blackbird in the design."

"That's ... probably because Corsair is my father," Scott admitted, still with that same sheepish look.

Noh leaned back and crossed his arms with a little frown before he just let out the slightest of nearly disbelieving breaths. "You X-Men have strange ties."

"We really do," Scott agreed before he tried to clear the air. "But ... I grew up thinking he was dead, so if that colors things..."

"Far be it from me to let an accident of birth stop our working together," Noh said quickly, shaking his head. "My former team included a supervillain and a half-Skrull, after all. I was simply making sure I was not letting a pirate see more of my ship than I intended."

"The last person you'd need to worry about pillaging your ship is Scott," Logan commented from a bit further back in the ship where Jubilee was showing him around..

"That is good to hear." Noh leaned back against the wall and nodded to Scott. "Well, if you would like — I can place the coordinates. I see no reason why I can't return the favor and allow you to fly _my_ ship."

Scott grinned at that, and the two quickly fell back into their continuing conversation about the different systems — while the others in the ship just made themselves comfortable for the duration.

* * *

"When the fighting finally starts," Jubilee said over Kate's shoulder while the guys were having coffee. "You're going to want to make sure your battery is fully charged, because this is either going to be epicly bad — or epicly _awesome_."

Kate grinned at Jubilee. "I've already got Billy _and_ Teddy blowing up my phone just from the one picture I've sent so far."

"Well, even if it's epicly bad? They're still incredible working together." Jubilee grinned widely in anticipation. "Seriously. They, like, don't even need to talk."

"Then why the heck don't they do that more often?" Kate asked, raising an eyebrow her friend's way.

"Personality issues," Jubilee said with a shrug. "They _do it_ all the time though. Even when they fight, it's like ... poetry."

Kate just grinned at her again. "Then I'll make sure to charge the phone before we leave. Noh still have those ports that do it, like, five times as fast as normal?"

"Yes, I think so," she replied with a nod.

Kate just grinned wider and pulled her phone out of her pocket, crossing over the little dining area to find a port and sitting on the table as she did so — while a few of them bamfs were inspecting some of Noh's food with curious, unsure expressions.

"Are you girls plotting and planning?" Kurt asked as he slid over toward the pair of them as they entered the dining area.

"Always," Kate said with a grin and without a shred of hesitation. "It's a state of being." She jumped up off the table to give him a little kiss. "Don't worry. This time, we're not getting _you_ all twisted." She smiled at him with her tongue between her teeth. "This time."

"What are you planning then?" Kurt asked, a little impish grin starting to spread over his features. "Perhaps I can help in some way — since it's not against me."

Kate grinned. "Troublemaker. This is why I love you," she teased him as she stood on her toes to give him another kiss. "We're just plotting how best to document the beautiful team up that's happening here is all."

"Which beautiful team up? There are a few," Kurt pointed out. "Everyone seems to be breaking off into little groups."

Kate just laughed and pointed Scott's way before she said in a low whisper, "You know. The one with the adorable uncle and his friend the Wolverine."

"Ah," Kurt replied with a deep understanding suddenly. "Well. If you want to keep it safe for all audiences, I would recommend not mic-ing them. He doesn't look it, but once he gets angry with Logan, Scott swears just as badly."

"See? That's good advice. You're helping already," she said and kissed his cheek again.

"Just pointing out the obvious," Kurt replied with a little chuckle. "So what is your big plan to document this — and for what purpose aside from historical reference?"

"Oh, nothing big and devious this time — just cell phones and giggling on the other side of the camera," Kate admitted.

"So it's for Teddy and Billy then?"

Kate just grinned widely at that and nodded. "They just about _died_ at the picture of those two hugging. I'm going to kill them _dead_ with this."

"I'll be honest, I think the only one that wasn't on the verge of sudden heart failure was Scott." Kurt shook his head. " _That_ has never ever happened."

"And he only avoided heart failure because he knew it was coming," Kate laughed.

"You know, I don't think he did," Kurt pointed out, looking a bit thoughtful. "He looked a bit shocked at himself."

As Kate laughed at that, Noh poked his head into the dining area with a bit of a frown and a concerned expression. "It seems Earth's Skrull infestation is a bit more than we realized."

On the other side of the dining hall from where Kate and Kurt had been quietly talking and flirting, Scott looked at Logan for a moment. "You ready to get to work?"

Logan just nodded, and the two of them stood to follow Noh and see what it was they were dealing with — without a word more spoken.

"So it begins," Jubilee said with a significant look Kate's way, and the younger woman burst into giggles. "They're strategizing together. _Ooooooh_. I'm putting my money on epically _awesome._ "

Noh took the two senior X-Men toward the observation deck to show them the readings from the Skrull forces gathered at the poles. "They're not just concentrated around your planet — they are positively _swarming_ on the one next door, sending secret messages… an old code but still difficult to unlayer," Noh explained as he showed the two of them the relays he'd managed to intercept.

Both X-Men looked concerned, and where Scott was looking at the messages, Logan was watching the readouts — and between the two of them, it didn't take long for them to get there. "They're staging," both of them said at once before they shared a look and nodded.

"Do they have any breaks in their communications?" Scott asked. "Or is there a spot we can loop it for them?"

"Both are good options," Noh said with a bit of an approving smile. "But there are significant enough breaks that we can slip in; that is how they were able to stay under SWORD's radar for so long - the long gaps in communication and lack of an obvious pattern."

"Is the break long enough to clear out their backup?" Logan asked. "So we can hit Mars first and let them think they have backup coming when we wipe them out at the poles?"

"If we move quickly," Noh said, nodding. "I would suggest waiting another hour before their next transmission, and then we would have much time to work with."

"Let's do it," Scott agreed. "When we come back to clean out the poles, they'll be a little more reckless thinking they have a swarm to join them."

Noh paused for a moment and looked over the two X-Men. "I should warn you both — when I say they are swarming on Mars, I did mean that in a literal sense. Their numbers are surprising, given the fact that the Skrull population has so diminished recently."

"Well it's about to diminish a whole lot more," Scott assured him before he took in a deep breath. "We'll head to Mars, clear out what we can — and make sure that you can loop that message on time. We don't need them sending the order to jump before we finish with them."

Noh grinned back at him. "Have no fear. When it comes to fighting Skrulls, I have yet to make such a mistake as letting them know I was _coming_."

"Perfect," Logan said with a nod. "I'm headed back for coffee. You comin', Slim?"

"Go ahead, I think I'll run through everything Noh's collected so far," Scott replied before he turned to Noh and stepped a bit closer so Noh could explain a few things in the message to him while Logan just headed back to where everyone else was waiting.

When he got there, Jubilee had to try and see if she could rile him. "He kick you out?" she asked with a grin.

Logan just chuckled. "He wishes. No — they're going over intel." He tipped his head toward Kate and Kurt. "Got about an hour before we attack a whole planet."

"Only one?" Kate asked with a raised eyebrow. "We don't want to take on a solar system?"

"We might need a few more people for that," Logan said with a shrug. "So I'm told."

Kate smirked his way before she just tucked her arm around Kurt's waist with a little smile and a whispered in his ear, "A whole hour to kill. Whatever should we do?"

Kurt just grinned back at her with one eyebrow quirked as he lifted her other hand to kiss it, instead of speaking — and she broke into a little giggle before they teleported away.

* * *

When the group of them approached Mars, both Scott and Noh made it a point to double check the loop they'd put into the Skrull communications as they got ready to make their raid. It would be straightforward enough — just fight Skrulls and make sure to destroy their base — and all six of them were itching for a good fight. Kurt had even given instructions to the bamfs to stick to everyone and help as they were asked — and they were growing more excited as they saw their friends prepping for the fight.

Noh had been right to describe the group of aliens as a swarm — there was practically a sea of green by the time they made their landing, after having very nearly been shot out of the sky by several close shaves. And as soon as the ship opened up to let the group of X-Men out, the Skrulls were already charging.

As they dove into the fight, Noh was in his element, shooting through, kicking, and just downright destroying any Skrull that got within his reach with a look of concentration and a small sort of smirk. The little bamf that was sticking with him was holding on with both hands to his hair and cackling as he bamfed the Kree fighter into clumps of Skrulls so Noh could just keep right on firing and fighting even after he'd plowed through one group.

Kate was having a blast with her pair of bamfs, one of which had his own little bow and arrow — with suction cup tips, because Kate was _very_ careful about weaponry around them. She'd been around the bamfs long enough that it was almost second nature to line up a shot, fire, and then just immediately reach for another arrow as the bamfs got her to the next shot. She didn't have to look for more to do — the bamfs were keeping her in constant supply of destructive shots.

The bamf on her shoulder shot a little suction cup arrow at the same time she shot an explosive arrow, and the two shared a quick high five at the resulting explosion before they bamfed away again.

Jubilee was enjoying her bamf and had even given him a piece of bubble gum and had a splitter on her headphones so both she and the bamf could listen as they blew up Skrulls. The two of them were teleporting around and paffing massive clumps of Skrulls — straight out decimating them, though she wasn't concentrating nearly as hard as she had been with Bastion, so the ground was littered with bits and pieces of Skrulls. "Slippery when wet!" she called out before she and her bamf disappeared away from where Kurt had just appeared, three swords swirling and slashing as he grinned maniacally.

But Scott and Logan were in absolutely perfect form. They fought back to back, with Logan handling everything nearest them while Scott blasted back waves or shot those trying to attack from farther back. They were moving together — and protecting each other as they did so.

Even at that close of range, and with the time apart, Scott still knew exactly where to stand to keep out of Logan's way while his old teammate very nearly lost his cool. Logan just seemed to almost sense the right time to dodge out of the way for Scott to blast their opponents — and the whole fight was caught on film by a little bamf holding Kate's purple cell phone and giggling delightedly at his assignment.

Not one word was spoken between the two of them — yet they really were incredibly efficient in getting the job done. When Scott started to wear down, still out of practice, Logan ramped up his attack so he could catch his breath, and when Logan got a little too close to a group that was trying to drag him down, Scott simply annihilated them.

"I believed I was familiar with most of the team's powers from Jubilee — though perhaps I missed a telepathic bond somewhere?" Noh called out to Kurt as the two of them were fighting a particularly thick knot of Skrulls.

Kurt grinned broadly but shook his head Noh's way. "Whatever you do, don't say that near them," Kurt advised. "There is nothing like that going on between those two." Kurt paused and almost couldn't resist a bit of a tease: "Not that anyone could ever find, that is."

"Then I shall keep my theories to myself until they are proven or disproven one way or the other," Noh said with a little smirk as he blasted through a couple Skrulls on either side of him with a bit of a twirl and a look Jubilee's way.

She grinned at him, totally aware that he was showing off for her, and popped her hip a bit as she waved just before she and her bamf disappeared for one of the thicker clumps of Skrulls to blow up.

Meanwhile, Kate and her bamfs had been bouncing around just finding interesting things to shoot at when they came across a couple of ships — and the three of them, in perfect sync, broke into wide grins. "Feel like sabotage, boys?" she asked the bamf on either shoulder before they teleported inside to start causing mayhem.

The little blue imps nodded enthusiastically and simply waited for her direction, little tails swishing behind them as they crouched down as if to spring.

"Let's see what happens when half this equipment gets 'ported out of the walls," Kate suggested, pointing at whatever looked important as she kept up a steady stream of arrows for any Skrulls that looked like they might try and stop her or the bamfs.

With delighted little giggles, the bamfs set to work teleporting out anything she pointed at — and a few things she didn't — as they ran rampant through the Skrull ship. The Skrulls couldn't move fast enough to stop the little imps, and the ones that did manage to get close enough to bother Kate either found out what she'd learned from Logan or grabbed nothing but smoke as the bamfs kept half an eye on their sabotage partner.

Jubilee popped up next to Kate before the Skrulls really had tried to concentrate their forces on her and blasted through several that looked like they were planning to stop Kate's fun. "Do you need more explosives?" Jubilee asked.

"Always," Kate said with a grin as she punctuated her point with a splodey arrow into a group of Skrulls.

Jubilee just responded by sending plasmoids toward the ships and then to the Skrulls themselves. "Have you seen the thingy that Scott and Noh wanted exploded?" she asked over the edge of her sunglasses.

"Not yet — but we've been 'porting around looking for explode-able things."

"I think the guys have the carnage covered?" Jubilee shrugged up one shoulder with a very troublemaking look. "Wanna go looking for the other crap? We can be the big heroes that save their sorry butts."

"Typical," Kate said with a laugh. "Let the girls do all the _real_ work."

"Yeah, but we make it look good," Jubilee replied with a smirk.

"We make _everything_ look good," Kate countered, grinning wide before the girls' bamfs just teleported them out of the ship and around the Skrull base camp, in and out of trouble as they looked for anything that might look big and important.

"Even if it doesn't _look_ flammable? I can make it burn anyhow," Jubilee promised as they looked, which just got a huge grin out of Kate. "Or … vaporize it or whatever."

"And that, my friend, is why you're fun to work with," Kate laughed. "I love a good explosion." She looked around the base for a while, lips pursed and nodding to herself. "Let's try somewhere else, buddy," she told the bamf at her shoulder. "Doesn't look like the thingy's here."

"Um. Okay," Jubes said before she reached for her comm. "Hey, super cute alien boy," she half sang out. "Kate and I were out sightseeing? And I was wondering if you could point me to the big thingy you wanted blown up. We're taking selfies." She waved Kate over and pulled out her phone just to make sure she wasn't lying accidentally and snapped a picture with a pile of burning Skrulls in the background just to send to him.

"It should be at the center of this ramshackle establishment," Noh replied, and they could hear the loud cackling of a bamf over the line for a moment as well as the sounds of Noh's guns before he added. "And it is an accelerator, not a 'thingy.'"

"An accelerator _is_ a thing," Jubilee pointed out.

"Strictly speaking, this is true," Noh admitted. He paused for a moment, then added, "I would suggest a little north of your position. That seems to be where the readings were concentrated as we came in."

"That sounds like a splendid suggestion," Jubilee sang out. "Don't get your cute self in trouble, we're off to blow things up. Toodles!"

Kate laughed at Jubilee's antics and was still giggling when the bamfs teleported them to the position Noh had pointed out — a large device in the middle of a group of Skrulls just _waiting_ for them to destroy it. "Looks like we're here to do the heavy lifting," she teased.

"Yep, as usual," Jubilee said with a nod before she just sized up the accelerator and nodded to herself. "Okay. I'll just bet that if you can cover me long enough I can vaporize like ... half of that with one blast." She turned to Kate with a bright smile. "I had two bowls of sugar bombs this morning."

"And I had three cups of coffee. Sounds like we're both fueled up," Kate teased as she pulled out a smoke arrow. "Got you covered, Jubes." She fired the smoke arrow to give them both cover before she dove in and just started to shoot or kick any Skrull that even looked at Jubilee sideways.

While Kate worked her magic, Jubes just concentrated and worked on a good build. The bamf on her shoulder slowly slipped behind her as the plasmoid grew, and she even went so far as to warn him when she was finally ready to let loose. "Okay little guy, you ready?" she asked, her eyes locked on the thingy in front of her. When he nodded, she called out to Kate. "Might want to put on your shades, duck — and cover."

Kate looked up at Jubilee and saw the expression on her face and didn't hesitate to cover her eyes and duck down — she'd been around Jubilee long enough to know her fireworks could do some _serious_ damage, and they were _bright_ , and Kate liked her hawk-eyes in one piece, thank you very much.

When she let it loose — it was so much bigger than Kate had seen before, and as the sparkles rained down around not only them but the guys too, Jubilee gave her a little smile as she walked toward her, the accelerator still a white hot spot that was shooting off colored sparks. "Hey Hawkeye — turns out my plasmoids are _way_ stronger in space."

"I see that," Kate said with a little smirk as she picked her head up to see the aftermath.

"Hawkeye — Jubilee — are the two of you alright?" Noh's voice came over the comm. "We could see the explosion from here."

"Peachy keen," Jubilee sang out. "Even got my action hero walk down cold, right Hawkeye?"

"Didn't even look over her shoulder. Never look at explosions," Kate agreed with a teasing smile.

"Oh and also — the thingy is still spewing plasma sparks and will until it's totally melted into a puddle. Also — we may have wiped out a small population of Skrulls over here. You boys keep playing. We'll be there to clean up in a sec."

"I'm glad to hear you took care of the thingy," Noh replied, the amused laugh obvious over the comm. "Please feel free to wipe out more Skrulls on your way over."

"How's my Wolvie?"

"Delightfully working through a big group of Skrulls who seem to have no sense of self-preservation," was Noh's quick response. "Are you entirely sure he and Cyclops are not bonded in some way?"

"Um. That is _so_ a loaded question, sugar lips." Jubilee pulled a face and glanced Kate's way before flipping off the mic. "And that was over comms. We really need to get back and watch the show now. Logan might have lost his ... because. Hey, it happens all the time with him? But Scott? No chance."

Kate laughed. "I think Noh did it on purpose," she admitted. "He's secretly a troublemaker, but he likes to think no one knows this."

"Well that makes it so much better," Jubilee agreed with a little impish grin at the thought. "And there is so much material there to work with ... omigosh. I have jokes. Jokes that need to be made but are actually really, really insensitive."

Kate snorted. "Let's 'port over and watch the show before your jokes get you in trouble," she suggested before she nodded at the little imps around them, who were giggling and looked like they would prefer to hear the jokes and face the trouble instead.

"So much trouble," Jubilee agreed seriously. "And I am no longer a vampire, so I can't take the whooping that would go with it."

"You can tell me the jokes later," Kate suggested. "Secretly. Maybe during a Storm sleepover."

When the bamfs brought them back to the boys, it looked like the rest of the team had plowed through a great deal of the remaining Skrulls — though Scott looked irritated, and not just because of Noh's commentary. He looked to be wearing down faster than the other three, and Logan had stepped in without being asked to ramp up the heat and give him a little more space, which was only irritating him further.

"Oh boy," Jubilee said to Kate with a little frown. "Now. _now_ is when we start having issues." She pointed toward Scott. "You see that — that look right there? That — is where problems begin. That look."

Kate tipped her head pointedly at the little bamf with her camera hovering close by the fight. "I now have the look on film so I can recognize it for future reference, too."

"Ye-eah, well. If those two spend any more time together? You won't have to look it up on film." Jubilee gave her a look over her sunglasses.

Almost on cue, Scott let out a shout of frustration as Logan barrelled into another knot of Skrulls getting close to him. "I've _got_ it!" he shouted.

"Okay, then _get it,_ " Logan called back, moving aside to give Scott his shot. Scott blasted through the Skrulls Logan had been fighting and gave a satisfied sort of nod, but as more of them arrived and it was clear that he was rusty and not reacting fast enough to keep up, Logan moved in closer again to keep the Skrulls off his back.

"I said I had it!" Scott shouted, visibly frustrated.

"Hey, I'm just tryin' to keep you from going back all beat to hell. Relax a little, Scooter."

"If I wanted your help, I'd _ask_ for it," Scott snapped back.

"Then get to _work,_ and I'll back off," Logan returned, just as short. As the two of them visibly got angrier, the girls watched as there was suddenly a much larger poof of violet smoke between Scott and Logan.

"Scott, I need your help with a more tactical target," Kurt said with a very business-like tone. "Can you spare a moment?" he added as he dove right in to help fight the Skrulls with the two of them for a moment.

Scott had to take a second to stop glaring at Logan before he nodded Kurt's way. "What have you found?"

"Their communications center," Kurt replied.

"Great." Scott nodded once and looked a little less annoyed for a moment. "Let's take it down, then — unless Logan still needs backup here." He shot Logan a look.

"I'll manage," Logan replied, not even looking Scott's way as he directed his rage to the aliens. As soon as Kurt and Scott disappeared, Logan frowned a bit deeper and really let loose, setting some of those closest to him back a few paces as he tore into them two and three at a time.

Kate looked over at Jubilee with a significant look as the bamf with her phone very seriously teleported over and handed her the cell as if he was bestowing a gift. "And this is just round one," she said, a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"They do best when they don't talk," Jubilee said with a nod. "Until … it all blows up. The idiots try to save each other. It's tragic."

Kate smirked as the little bamf waited for her to kiss his cheek in return for the phone, then giggled and poofed away again. "Come on. Let's get rid of these Skrulls and then go freeze our tails off in the Arctic."

"You never know," Jubilee said mock-thoughtfully. "We might get the Antarctic and not freeze at all."

"If you say so," Kate replied as she strung another arrow and grinned Jubilee's way. A few moments later, there was a bright red flash and a large explosion, and the Skrulls around them seemed to fight a bit more frantically as their communications relay was destroyed.

The wave of Skrulls was starting to wear down when the unmistakable sound of Nina Simone could be heard over the battlefield as Noh flipped over Jubilee's shoulder with a wide grin. "I think it's time we wrapped this up, yes?" he asked before he just started to run into the middle of the Skrulls, his black and green uniform already splattered as he spun into a few more and blasted them point blank.

"Showoff," Jubilee teased.

"For you? Always," he teased right back before he tucked into a quick flip and fired as he did so. "Besides, every fight needs a good finale."

Simply for his entertainment, and taking it as a cue, she started sending tiny plasmoids up into the air to explode like little fireworks in time with the music. "Finale needs a light show," she informed him as colored sparkles screamed and rained down around them.

He beamed her way as he blasted his way through the last little group, putting his foot through the last Skrull as he did so and then giving her a grin and a bow. "I do believe we make a good team."

"Certainly more amazing together," she agreed as she stepped forward and took his arm. "We should rest up and see what the plan is with the tactical twins."

He just reached down to pick her up and swing her around in a kiss. "I have no idea to which two of our teammates you are referring, but I agree with your amazing assessment of the two of _us_."

She grinned widely and scrunched her nose up just a bit before she kissed him right back. "I am very often right. Even if no one else hears it."

* * *

Once they were back on Noh's ship, Noh was sure to point out to everyone where they could find shower facilities as well as room accommodations if they wanted to catch some rest before they headed to the poles - though after they were showered, Noh somehow wasn't surprised to find that Logan and Scott both wanted to hit the next mission fast.

"We can't split up," Scott said with a shake of his head as Logan nodded in agreement. "There's too many of them to divide up and get the job done."

Noh had to sigh and nod his agreement. "As well versed as we six are in fighting Skrulls - they are simply ahead of us in numbers." He looked over the readings. "Three alone would be suicide."

"We can't hit one at a time either," Scott said. "Whichever we left behind would attack while we were occupied."

"Then it is advantageous that Earth has no shortage of heroes," Noh pointed out with a small smirk.

"I … don't have any real allies anymore," Scott replied with a heavy sigh as he absently rubbed the back of his neck. "I doubt they'd come if I called."

"You're wrong," Logan said pointedly to Scott before he turned to Noh. "But it was Fury that got this ball rolling, so _he_ can send someone to help."

Noh nodded thoughtfully. "Perhaps you should call him. My ties to SHIELD are… tenuous at best."

"Little bit better than they were before — and they'll be better still when we're finished here," Logan replied before he made the call on Noh's screen. He didn't greet Fury when he appeared, larger than life and looking serious, just jumped right into it: "We've got a mess at both poles. Pick one and send the Avengers. We'll take the other one."

Scott just turned his head to stare at Logan in a bit of disbelief at the way he was addressing the head of SHIELD, though Fury didn't seem nearly as bothered as Scott was.

"You got a preference on North or South?" Fury asked almost lazily. Logan turned to look Scott's way for his answer.

"We'll take the North Pole," Scott said, addressing Fury after a quick glare Logan's way. "Unless the Avengers are closer."

"No, that'll be just fine," Fury said. "Call in when you're ready to attack so we can hit them both at once." He'd addressed Scott just as easily as he had Logan — and _that_ was a new development.

"We'll let you know," Scott promised, the look of slight surprise well-hidden behind his glasses.

"I'll be waiting for the call," Fury replied before he gave them the tiniest of smirks and killed the transmission.

Scott turned to Logan with a bit of a frown. "That's new," he said. "What did you do?"

"Hey. It was his idea to go get you," Logan defended. "I didn't do a damn thing."

"I wasn't suggesting it was _your_ idea to have me around," Scott pointed out. "Just that SHIELD has never been on that friendly of terms in my experience."

"I don't know what to tell you, Slim," Logan replied. "He shocked the hell outta me when he said he wanted you. It wasn't my idea."

"At least that part doesn't surprise me," Scott muttered. He shook his head a bit. "Maybe I've just been gone long enough that things have changed — but I somehow doubt that."

"Who knows," Logan said with a shrug before he jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "I'm gonna tell the kids to bust out the winter gear."

"I've learned from experience if it's going to be cold that we will require coffee as well," Noh added helpfully. "I'll make sure we have a pot ready before we arrive." He turned to follow Logan out of the observation room and was unsurprised when he made it to the dining area that Jubilee was there with candy - a few chocolate bars he'd picked up during his grocery run.

He snuck up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "If you keep this up, I shall have to play 'I Want Candy' every time you enter this room," he teased.

"If you do that, I'll have to dance for you," she replied without missing a beat. "But you know. Not the kind that's for mixed company."

"Then I will _definitely_ have to do it," he said, kissing her cheek with a crooked smile. "With a promise like that."

"Oh good," Jubilee replied as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "I love that song."

"Good to know." He kissed her gently for a moment and then asked, "Do you have any other song preferences I should know about? I'm sure if we put our minds to it, the entire ship could play music for any entrance you make."

She grinned broadly. "Oh, that is a dangerous offer. I like it. Yes. I'll make a disc for you. Old fashioned, but... I have songs for you."

He grinned brilliantly. "I look forward to it," he said before he kissed her again, longer this time. When the kiss broke, he added, "We are going to the North Pole very soon. I have heard there are sugar plums and candy canes to feed your addiction."

"If only," she replied before she started kissing up his jawline. "Nothing there but polar bears and seals."

"And, for the time being, Skrulls," Noh added, his grin widening every second.

"We'll fix that when we get there," she said quietly. "I'd like a little more sugar though beforehand."

"Anything you like," Noh said as he held her a little tighter, now speaking in a quiet almost hiss of a whisper. "I believe I have a wide selection of sugary sweets — not to mention other kinds of sugar, as you like to call it." He grinned widely.

"Other, please. If it's not too much trouble."

"Yes, of course." He picked her up so he could reach her to kiss her without stooping. "Anything you like."


	5. Chicken Hawk

**Notes from CC: Hi guys! Yes, Logan/Scott battle banter is the best. Second only to when they're getting along so perfectly well and kicking ass to the point that they don't need to talk. I adore that. Griezz- do me a favor and do not ever ever do a search for Scogan. It's a thing that sick, sick people have endorsed. And it is wrong. So so so so so so wrong.**

 **From robbie: Glad to see you're all still here and enjoying our nonsense! :) Griezz - actually, the one thing that I have really liked about Marvel comics is the introduction of characters like Kamala Khan and Miles Morales, who represent the newest generation of adorable nerd heroes, and from her very inception almost three years ago, Kamala has been shown to write fanfiction, and that's continued ever since, which I LOVE. (That's one of my favorite moments, actually, is when she meets Wolverine and gushes about writing fic about him and he just… doesn't know what to do with that information.) And Marvel did an excellent story with both Kamala and Miles writing fanfic as Kamala read stories about herself, which I highly recommend picking up. They actually gave fanfic writers a fair shake.**

 **So you** _ **know**_ **her favorite fanfic website ("Freaking ") SO exists in this universe. We are so keeping that. Because giggling sleepovers. And because if it makes our favorites happy, you know it goes in the 714 universe. :D**

* * *

 **Chapter Five: Chicken Hawk**

* * *

When Noh's ship had landed at the North Pole, the group of them had already called SHIELD to let them know they were making their approach — though they almost didn't need to confirm it, what with Kate's friends Teddy and Billy on the New Avengers team texting her about penguins.

Logan and Scott were both ready to go, though they didn't have that same, easy, relaxed vibe that they'd had before. Both were tense and had their jaws locked into place as they stared ahead.

"And now, you see the other side of the coin as it starts up," Jubilee said quietly over Kate's shoulder as she was steering Noh's ship while Noh checked on some last-minute readings to be sure the Skrulls didn't know they were coming. "I have a feeling this is going to be very very ugly."

"I mean I don't get it," Kate said with a little shake of her head. "They're, like, five years old. Both of them."

"It's so complicated and simple at once," Jubilee said, still in a low whisper as she too was shaking her head slowly, as if she couldn't believe she had to put up with both of them. "I mean, they could make this so easy."

"You know — if they used words. Like normal people," Kate agreed.

"There is so much built up drama there. Seriously."

"And yet _Kurt_ is the drama teacher," Kate teased.

"Wrong kind of drama," Jubilee replied quietly before she spotted her be-bopping alien boy and just grinned and patted Kate on the shoulder. "I'll tell you about it later."

In contrast to Logan and Scott, Noh looked perfectly relaxed and even was looking forward to blasting some Skrulls, and he shot Jubilee a little grin when she bounded over to him. He had been listening to some music, but he pulled out one of the earphones when she approached as he caught her up in a spinning hug and she could hear "Be My Baby" playing through the earphones. It was his favorite song, so she knew it meant he was in a perfectly good mood — with friends to fight with and Skrulls to crush.

"When we're finished here, we should go dancing," he whispered in her ear when he set her down, and she broke into a huge, beaming grin and just nodded her agreement.

Kate tried not to roll her eyes as she could hear Noh turn up the volume on his favorite song and pull Jubilee into a quick spin, instead focusing on landing them neatly at the pole. As soon as she started up the landing procedures, the rest of the group headed for the doors, ready for round two against the Skrulls as the alien force was taken by surprise on their arrival. It was a much smaller force than had been on Mars, but enough that as soon as the six of them came bursting out of the ship, they had plenty to do.

Noh and Kate actually found themselves in an easy, familiar rhythm blasting through aliens as they both just took to shooting every Skrull in sight, seeming to know beforehand where each other's shots would land and moving accordingly, their old ties as former teammates obvious to see even without knowing that they had once been particularly close.

Kurt was in prime form, all three swords in play as he teleported around the field of Skrulls, and Jubilee was sending off plasmoids left and right — but the two of them were also both half watching Logan and Scott, as they already knew trouble was brewing from experience.

As before, Scott and Logan found themselves working together and moving back to back - Scott avoiding Logan's claws, and Logan dodging Scott's blasts. The camaraderie was simply not there though. They both looked irritated at the very least — and increasingly more livid as the battle raged on around them.

It took much less time for Scott to wear down, as they really hadn't taken much of a break since the last battle, but this time, when Scott started to protest Logan's move to cover him, Logan flat ignored him. It was obvious neither of them was listening to a word the other way saying, and so they were drifting further apart.

But when the Skrulls started to close in on Scott's blind side, Logan still shouted out for him to move. When Scott didn't move fast enough — either because he was ignoring Logan or because he was tiring or some combination — the Skrulls behind him got the drop on him and managed to knock him flat and start tearing into him viciously.

"Damnit, Scooter," Logan snarled, bashing through the Skrulls between them to knock the Skrulls off of Scott, drawing the fire off of him so he could at least reach out to the bamf nearest him and teleport out.

Once he was out, Scott took a second to get his breath and his bearings before he looked back at where he'd just been to see that Logan seemed to be trying to take on all of the Skrulls at once. The Skrulls seemed surprised at his ferocity and were at first simply being driven back before they more or less switched tactics to just try and swarm him.

Scott swore under his breath as he just flat ignored the bruising and bleeding from the beating he'd just taken and headed back for Logan's position. He was halfway there when he half-shouted, "This is not a solo mission! Stop trying to take on the whole army yourself."

"I'm _fine!_ " Logan all but barked back, though it was clear he was losing ground quickly.

"Back off — let some of the others _help_." Scott was glaring hard and obviously annoyed as he started to blast some of the Skrulls on his way over as Logan continued to lose ground, and by the time Scott got there, they'd taken a decent chunk out of Logan, and he was pretty well bloodied.

The Skrulls on Logan each got optic blasts as Scott very tiredly growled out, "Why don't you _listen_?"

"Same reason you don't!" Logan growled back, leaning his head back on the snow for a moment.

"Thought you said I was running this op," Scott countered with an obvious glare.

"Damnit, Scott — when have I ever listened to every little thing you say?" Logan winced as he sat back up and started to get to his feet.

"If you did, maybe we'd stop _having_ this problem," Scott said, gesturing at Logan's wounds. "Is it bad?"

"I'll heal, you jackass," Logan snarled out.

"Yeah?" Scott snapped back. "Play it smarter and you wouldn't have to, you _stubborn ass_."

"Take your own advice and stop tryin' to micromanage me," Logan barked out as the two of them once again started fighting Skrulls — though this time, it was while arguing and sniping at each other, all while a little bamf with a camera phone cackled with glee with every escalating swear.

By the time they'd fought through the small army of Skrulls, it was clear that the entire group was pretty well tired out after two large battles in such quick succession. Even though Scott and Logan had spent the better part of the battle arguing, Scott had actually taken some damage from the beating as well as the rest of the fight, and while they were still sniping, Logan was half holding him up as they headed back toward the others.

"Can't you shut up for five minutes? You're bleeding all over," Logan grumbled as he shifted his arm to prop Scott up a bit more.

"I did notice that actually," Scott snipped back.

"You look like death warmed over," Logan said with a shake of his head before he looked to Kate, who was nearest. "Noh got any decent medical on that tin can?"

"Yeah, it should be pretty well stocked," Kate said, looking them both over and biting back the comments that she really, _really_ wanted to make. "Had to keep a bunch of reckless kids all patched up when it was the official Young Avengers ship."

"Show me the way," Logan said finally, looking livid and refusing to look at Scott.

Kate nodded quickly and led both of the X-Men through Noh's ship to the pristine white-and-green medical area. She started to pull out medical supplies, since she knew where they were, and pointed out where the rest were to Logan. "You're gonna want to clean that before you stitch it," she said, pressing some antiseptic into Logan's hand.

"Yeah, I've done this a few times before," Logan growled back before he put one hand in the center of Scott's chest and pushed him back. "Got anything to numb it up?"

"Yeah, I've done this a few times too," Kate said simply as she started pulling out bandages with one hand as she looked through the drawers with another before she tossed Logan a bottle. "Here. It's some Kree thing I can't pronounce, but it works _wonders_."

"It's fine — I just need a quick patch before we get to the mansion," Scott tried to argue.

"You need to shut up before I smother you," Logan argued. "If you _remembered_ half the trips back from you gettin' hurt you'd know I can whip stitches faster than Hank. So just try being quiet."

"Phew," Kate said, wrinkling her nose at an imaginary smell. "The testosterone fumes are _thick_ in here."

"I'll smother you too, princess pain in my ass," Logan sniped.

She just smiled sweetly at him as she handed him the stitching needle. "And it won't make me any less right."

"Are you sure you can't stitch her mouth shut?" Scott grumbled.

"Sure. You hold 'er down," Logan replied as he worked quickly on Scott's side.

"Shame on you both threatening a sweet innocent princess," she shot back, waggling a finger at them with a grin.

Both of them snorted at that and Scott gave her a look. "Hey, try not making us laugh while he's in a position to jab me in the side? I'd rather not scar up more than what's strictly necessary."

"The ladies love a good scar," Kate countered with a smirk. "I'm sure Annie will think it's cute."

Scott's eyebrows rose high on his forehead for a moment. "You sure Kurt's going to be okay with you hitting on me like that?"

Kate laughed out loud. "Careful. He's the jealous type," she said, still grinning and chuckling.

Scott smirked her way and shook his head. "I'm not scared of Kurt. But you might want to curb that talk around Annie."

"Yes," she said, very seriously. "I'm scared of Annie."

"Alright," Logan said, sitting back and gathering up the assorted mess that he'd made. "Ten. Not bad, Slim. For your first mission in — how long?"

"Better part of a year," Scott admitted as he looked down to check over Logan's work.

"Yeah, don't touch it. We should wrap it up first," Logan advised, and Kate just wordlessly handed him a roll of bandages with a little smirk. "Got any pads or are you trying to give him an infection? I don't wrap like your usual patient."

She just smirked wider and pusheded a few pads his way with her other hand. "My usual patient is lucky I make him douse in alcohol first or he'd be dead. You've seen his place."

"I've smelled him. That's trouble waiting to grab a footing." He fiddled with the bandages, instructing Scott to straighten up a little as he started the wrap right.

Scott ignored Logan in favor of asking Kate, "Who's usually on the receiving end of your alcohol bath, then?"

"Hawkeye. The other one," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "He gets himself in more scrapes when he's not with the Avengers than when he is, _honestly_."

"That seems to be how it usually works. For everyone," Scott said pointedly. "Most stuff outside of your team will get you into trouble." Logan just glanced up at him for half a second and shook his head.

"Yeah, well, this one doesn't have the sense to know when to let someone else help him? So I do a lot of babysitting," Kate said, smirking.

"Says the girl that insists she's not on a team," Logan replied as he finished up the wrap.

Kate gestured at the X on her hip. "I am wearing the patch. What more do you want from me?"

He looked up at Scott, who just smirked wickedly. "Initiation ritual?" Logan asked, to which Scott just began to nod slowly.

"When we get back and Hank clears her for it," Scott agreed.

"What the heck kind of initiation needs _Hank_ — no. I don't want to know. Just - no," Kate said, hands on her hips and shaking her head.

"Lookit, Scotty, we scared the little Hawk," Logan said as he helped Scott to his feet, who twisted a bit to see if his stitches were going to pull on him.

" _Little Hawk_?" Kate glared at him and stuck a finger out to point his way.

"You're right. My bad," Logan said. " _Chicken Hawk_." Scott snorted at that and just grinned at her.

"You—" Kate grabbed the nearest thing to her, which was a package of gauze, and started to hit him with it. "You are the _worst_!"

He chuckled her way and grabbed her hand to pin both arms to her side as he more or less gave her a bear hug from behind. "No violence around the patient, Dr. Pierce."

"You can't scare me," she shot back as she tried to worm her way out.

"And you're not getting loose until you calm down and play … _nice._ "

She twisted around for another moment until it was clear she wasn't getting anywhere and then just pouted for a moment. "Let me go."

"Say please," Scott suggested. "Basic manners, Kate."

"You are both so gonna get it later," Kate grumbled before she let out a sigh. "Let me go. _Please_. You stupid Wolverine."

"Okay, Chicken Hawk," he replied before he let her go and stepped back.

She immediately whirled to face him and stick her finger in his face. "What's it gonna take to get you to not call me that anymore, huh?"

Logan just grinned. "I think you might just be screwed," Scott said. "He knows you hate it. But maybe," he mused tipping his head to the side for a moment. "Maybe you could do the initiation."

" _Fine_!" She threw both hands in the air. "Fine. _Fine_ — I'll wear the patch. I'll do the initiation. Are you both satisfied with your little frat boy selves?"

"Yes," they both replied at once.

She glared at both of them for a long moment before there was a little chime, and she looked over to see her little photographer bamf floating nearby and cackling gleefully as he looked at her phone. In a few steps, she snatched up the phone to see what he was doing — and let out a long groan when she saw that not only had the little imp been posting videos from the Skrull fight to her blog, he had also posted the video of the entirety of Logan and Scott's initiation threats and the bear hug.

Billy had already commented on it, too, with the phrase "Chicken Hawk" and a whole lot of laughing emojis, and Kate knew as soon as America added a comment promising to show it to Clint that she was never, _ever_ going to get rid of that name.

* * *

Logan and Scott worked quickly on the stupid initiation — whatever it was they had planned. All Kate knew was that she wasn't allowed in the Danger Room when those two were anywhere around, and that they were working extra fast together, stopping their conversation when Logan heard her coming and just - waiting for her to appear around the corner before they would both just stare at her.

This time, she was convinced that they'd stolen her cell phone because she couldn't find it anywhere, and when she called it, it just didn't ring.

"Are you lost?" Scott asked when she had glared at them for an appropriate amount of time.

"Where is it?" she asked him.

"Where is what?" Scott asked, perfectly straight-faced.

"My phone. The device I use to communicate. I hope _you_ at least know what one is, even if the dinosaur you're conspiring with doesn't." She had both hands on her hips as she glared at her tormentors.

Scott smirked and glanced Logan's way. "I thought you were on his speed dial or whatever," Scott said. "Which would prove that even a dinosaur can use one."

"And I'd like to use _mine_." She held out one hand. "Give it. I know you took it. And neither of you is prepared for the butt-kicking that will happen if my friends think I've gone missing or something and come busting in here and find out you're just being _stupid_."

"Yeah, we've never dealt with a buncha super powered kids," Logan said with a sarcastic drawl. "Whatever would we do?"

Scott smirked his way for a moment before he turned back to Kate."Really, we don't have it, Chicken Hawk."

"That," Kate said, pointing her finger at Scott, "is _not_ my name."

"That," Logan said returning the point, "Is not what everyone on your blog is saying."

" _Give me my phone, you lunatic!_ " She looked ready to tackle somebody.

"Honestly, we don't have it," Scott insisted, though the look of pure entertainment was obvious. "And I gotta warn you — if you hit Logan, you might just break your hand."

She crossed her arms over her chest and stomped her foot. "This is _ridiculous_. Just tell me where it went and just — just… gah!" She spun on her heel to face away from them. "I hate you both right now. So much," she informed them as she stalked away. "Forget you. I'll find it myself."

"Relax, Chicken Hawk," Logan called out. "See you in a couple hours."

She stomped off, deciding that it would just be easier if she found something _less stressful_ to do until those idiots were done. Like legal paperwork for her business or something. She all but kicked open the door to her and Kurt's room and saw, in an instant, that her cell phone was sitting on top of all her papers. Which it had definitely _not_ been about fifteen minutes ago.

"Stupid frat boys," Kate grumbled under her breath as she checked through the phone, but as far as she could tell, nothing had changed about it. At all. It was even on the same blog page she'd been reading before class.

She sighed and decided to call up America and vent as she headed downstairs to grab some coffee or maybe an ice cream bar or nine. But America didn't pick up — or Teddy. Or Billy. Which was probably the sign of the impending apocalypse, since she was pretty sure they weren't planning on doing anything but a movie night that night. Cassie, David, Noh, Clint — nobody would pick up, and Kate was starting to get frustrated.

She made her way down to the kitchen and grabbed two ice cream bars, some coffee, and a bag of popcorn before she went back to the bedroom so she could curl up with an actually good book from her company — she was going to have to reach out to this guy and see if he'd write anymore.

On her way out, she spotted a woman with purple hair who just smirked at her on her way into the kitchen as Kate was leaving. Kate had to pause, wrinkle her forehead, and just start to grumble to herself. Word was getting around, wasn't it? Great. She was halfway back to the room when she also spotted a pair of large, white wings and had to groan in frustration as she realized those two idiots were _inviting more people_.

"Well, fine," she muttered to herself. "More people to bask in my awesomeness."

As the day wore on, more and more unfamiliar voices echoed through the halls, and she distinctly heard a man with a deep voice conversing lazily in Russian with someone. But, about half an hour before Scott had told her to go down to the stupid Danger Room, all the voices and laughter faded off and it was once again silent in the halls, at least allowing her to concentrate on her book.

Until of course, there was a usually comforting bamf that announced Kurt's arrival. "You're not ready," he said with a broad grin.

She gestured down at her jeans and tee shirt with a little smirk and a raised eyebrow. "I'm not ready for what, exactly? Because the details have been sketchy at best."

"Yes, they can be a pain sometimes," Kurt agreed. "Just slip on your uniform, and we'll get this over with. And I promise I'll never phrase anything like that to you ever again."

She giggled at that and shook her head at him and she put a bookmark in her place and grabbed a uniform. As she was changing, she asked, "I don't suppose you can give me a hint?"

"It's best if you just roll with it," he advised. "That's really all I can say."

"Story of my life," Kate said with a little smirk before she finished pulling on her uniform and her gloves, then readjusted her headband and looked his way. "Do I need to bring splodey arrows too or is everything down in the Danger Room?"

"Bring whatever you like," Kurt said. "But all that you _need_ is already there."

Kate thought about it for a moment and just shouldered her favorite bow, so that the grip would at least be familiar even if the arrows she'd need would already be provided.

When she stepped close enough he pulled her tightly to him. "Relax, _liebling_ ," he said before he gave her a kiss. "It can't possibly be as bad as you're making it out to be."

"I'll be the judge of that," she replied before she kissed him back. "Maybe you should _make_ me relax," she added in a little teasing whisper. "If you're so worried."

"If we don't get down there soon, they'll send someone else up to get you."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. Let's go find out what the frat boys have planned."

With that, he teleported her right into the center of the Danger Room, and when she looked up into the booth, not only were Logan and Scott there, but so was every X-Man still alive — along with Clint and all of her friends.

"Good luck," Kurt said with a troublemaking grin before he stole a quick kiss and teleported up to the booth himself.

"Ready, Kate?" Logan asked over the comm — though everyone up there looked perfectly serious.

"Born that way," she replied, planting her feet in a ready stance, sure whatever this was, she could handle it.

At her declaration, the lights in the room fell into total blackness. But... they didn't come up again. Nothing shimmered around her. It was just... blackness.

"Is this some kind of crack about my eyes?" she asked after a long period of time had passed.

"No," Logan said from over her shoulder. "No crack at all."

"Your eyes are fine," Scott said on the other side. "But even with good psychic defenses — you really shouldn't trust a telepath."

She spun around. "What the heck are you talking about — just do the thing already!"

At her demand, the lights came back up to reveal that all they'd done ... was throw her a party. Everyone from the booth had come down while she was blinded, and she realized now that Rachel had probably kept her blind and deaf to the whole move as it happened — because no way would they have been able to move all those people and all that food and such without her knowing about it.

"Welcome to the X-Men," Scott said. "We hope you survive the experience." He and Logan were standing side by side, arms at their sides as they smirked at her.

"You…" She let out all her breath and ran over to both of them to smack them in the arms — and they were close enough she could get both of them. "Sneaky little… underhanded… adorable little _sweethearts."_ She tried to get both of them in a hug at once as best she could manage as she said it.

She hadn't even let go of the two sneaky X-Men before she was joined by at least half the assembled group, who then went immediately into clamoring to hug her individually and teasing her about the whole situation.

When the X-Men got done hugging her, her friends got a chance to break through the crowd _finally,_ equal parts excited for her and irritated that they hadn't been allowed to talk to her all day.

"Billy and Teddy just about died and almost blew the whole thing because they couldn't wait," America told her with a smirk. "Your tormentors had to give them their cell phone numbers as bribery."

" _No_." Kate stared at America open-mouthed. "Don't they know any better?"

America just laughed and shook her head. "They have no idea." Still laughing, she leaned in a little closer. "Those two have been telling _everyone_ they have Cyclops and Wolverine on speed dial. It's hilarious."

"I was wondering how they could go silent for so long without, like, the cataclysms coming down on us or something," Kate said with a little snort before she was pulled out of the conversation by Clint and a very warm bear hug that lifted her off her feet.

He was grinning when he set her back down. "Lookit the little Hawk. All grown up and on a team without her training wheels."

"You're one to talk. You still need training wheels and someone to hold the bike seat," she shot back.

He just laughed. "Whatever you say, Katie," he said before he kissed her cheek. "It's your party." He picked her up in a hug again and handed her off back to her friends with a cheeky grin before he went off to go talk with other people at the party.

"Ooh, Cassie says hi," Billy said, showing her a few messages on his phone meant for her from their friend. "You know, since she's not allowed anywhere near something like this or her mom would _kill_ you."

Kate snorted but had to grin at the pictures Cassie had sent, all of which had little decorative x's drawn on them. "You guys were in on this too. Little sneaks."

"Hey, when they called us, who were we to say no to such a brilliant idea?" Teddy pointed out.

"Besides, we love a good party," Tommy added.

She just shook her head at all of them before they launched into a retelling of everything she'd missed during their forced silence as her new teammates joked and retold old stories among themselves.


	6. Pro-Mutant Bias

**CC's thoughts on the things: Griezz - Ok yeah no. I've gotten requests to write crap for people and that is actually one of the top requests, right behind the Storm pairing and the Rogue pairing that will absolutely get me to not ever respond. Ever. Poor little** ** _old_** **me did not recognize the ship tag and I retched when I figured it out. None of that is acceptable here, and considering that I am amused by an 'Iron-Tooth' ship (that I helped name, incidentally)… that really should paint the picture for you. Yes, the Starlord/Drax was very cute - probably the best part of the trailer, tbh. And as usual, anything that really circles the YA, I will leave to the resident expert to handle.**

 **From Robbie, with love: Lol yes good. Psychological warfare at its finest; who let those boys anywhere near each other? (we did; we're not sorry) As for Teddy, he might *technically* be heir to the Skrull throne, but he has repeatedly distanced himself not only from the throne but also from Skrulls in general. ("You make me ashamed to be half-Skrull" -2013 YA run) He's been through the Secret Invasion with the Skrulls not to mention all the Skrull bashing he's done with the Avengers… I think at this point it's just standard fare for him, really, poor dear. Don't worry; we haven't forgotten about his heritage (see: Teddy reassuring Kurt in Volume 2 about parentage problems) and we actually have plans later on for that… But he can't be expected to get upset on behalf of a people that he's distanced himself from and who keep trying to take over Earth. If he did, he'd be emotionally exhausted like 2 months into being an Avenger ;)**

 **ANYway… here is the next chapter of wonderful goodness! More space adventures! More antagonist-JJ! More Happy Scott! YAY!**

* * *

 **Chapter Six: Pro-Mutant Bias**

* * *

Kate sat down heavily at the kitchen table, still very much not awake even after sleeping in and just staring into her coffee mug for a long moment as she willed herself to wake up a little faster. She'd just started to take her first sip when Kurt came to sit beside her, smirking a bit to himself at how tired she was as he wrapped his tail around her waist and scooted a little closer to put an arm around her shoulders as well and kiss the top of her head.

She wasn't really paying attention as Bobby came in and, as usual, turned up the volume on the TV to catch the news — until she heard her own name on the broadcast.

She looked up in surprise as the news report talked about her new hate speech policy — with the headline flashing under the screen reading: "Pro-Mutant Bias at Bishop Headquarters?"

Bobby glanced over at her surprised expression and tried to say, "Hey, you knew this might—"

But Kate shushed him as she glared up at the TV screen, the glare only deepening as J. Jonah Jameson came on to share his "informed opinion."

"Do you honestly think it's a _coincidence_ that Ms. Bishop has been seen with these terrorists more and more frequently just before these so-called 'policy changes' were announced?" he was arguing, looking positively livid, as usual. "Are we really going to let one of the biggest publishers in the world be run into the ground by a little girl who doesn't know better than to stay out of trouble? She should be on the party circuit, not censoring solid American authors!"

Kurt looked over at Kate and frowned at the expression of pure fury on her face. "Kate—"

But she shushed him, too, waving her hand at him, the coffee completely forgotten as she just got angrier and angrier. Jameson just kept ranting about the state of the publishing industry, and about her version of "censorship," claiming that this was "just another example of these terrorists trying to silence our right to free speech" and other such things.

He was winding down when he got to the real kicker, though. "Now, I'm not saying it's not understandable," he told the anchor on the panel. "All of us at her age have made questionable decisions — and it doesn't help that this impressionable young woman is apparently dating a _much_ older mutant, nearly twice her age. No doubt he took that little girl to that school of theirs and filled her head with all sorts of half-truths and indoctrination." He twisted his mustache for a moment. "But youthful mistakes shouldn't be acted out to crush the public's right to know the truth about this mutant menace!"

Kate switched off the TV as soon as JJ was done ranting. "I'm going to destroy him," she said through her teeth before she stalked upstairs, leaving the coffee cup behind as both Bobby and Kurt shared a look over the table.

Peter Parker's door was unlocked, but he was still sound asleep, and it was hard to tell where he was in the mass of blankets and pillows until Kate spotted a foot sticking out from underneath the covers and just grabbed and _pulled_. He let out a surprised yelp as he toppled out of bed, and once she knew he was awake, she put a finger in his face. "I'm going to destroy Jameson, and you're going to help me," she informed him.

"O-Okay, what's happening?" he asked, still waking up and wide-eyed and a little bit panicked at the rude awakening.

"You were right about him coming for me earlier rather than later. So you know how he works. Help me wipe the floor with him," she said as she grabbed him by the hand to pull him to his feet. "Come downstairs. I'll show you the crap he's saying."

"Can I just—"

"You and your Avenger jammies are coming whether you want to or not," she informed him, still pulling on his arm, and he let out a long sigh and just let her drag him downstairs, where Bobby and Kurt were still in the kitchen — though they had moved on to smirking as Kate dragged Spiderman down.

The TV wasn't playing the Jameson panel at the moment, instead focusing on some news about the latest stock market numbers, and Kate ordered Pete to sit at the table as she filled him in on what was going on in a clipped, half-snarling tone.

Peter looked her over for a moment and then shook his head. "Well, first of all, if you go in all mad like this? Yeah, no. That's not going to work for you. He'll just say it proves your dangerous or unhinged or emotional or something."

"All three of those words describe _him_ ," Kate pointed out.

"Yeah, that's not really the point?" Peter shook his head at her. "I mean, really, the only thing you can do is prove him wrong. Show the facts? He'll totally ignore them, but maybe other people will listen. I mean, you're not a spider-suited menace after all," he said with a rueful grin.

As Kate just glared over the whole situation, Logan came in for coffee and just took a seat next to Kurt to watch the show and catch up. "What's got her twisted?" he half-whispered to Kurt.

"She's now the subject of a public smear campaign by JJ," Kurt answered, though neither of them had taken their eyes off of Kate. "He's saying that I influenced her somehow."

"Yeah, you're real trouble all right," Logan agreed, to which the two of them started to chuckle a bit under their breath.

"He's making it out like I'm some stupid kid," Kate complained to Peter. "If I hit him on-air, will that prove him right? Because I really want to. Really badly. For bringing Kurt into this — that should be _totally off limits_."

"You can't attack him physically," Logan told her, breaking into her rant at last as it was clear she was really working herself up. "Not on air — not anywhere else. JJ's probably got cameras on him 24/7."

She picked her head up and glanced his way with narrowed eyes before what he'd said sank in and she sighed out a breath. "Yeah, I know. But it would sure make me feel better."

"You want to feel better? Beat him at his own game. Annihilate him on the air."

"That's the plan," Kate said with a nod Peter's way. "I just wasn't expecting it this soon is all. And from the direction he came."

"You _can't_ be asking Peter for help," Logan said with a genuine laugh. "He's never been able to do much to JJ."

"Sad but true," Peter sighed dramatically. "Though my impersonation of him gets better every year."

Logan turned to Bobby. "You got it on tape? I wanna see it."

Bobby look between Kate and Logan for a moment before he just shrugged and nodded. "Yeah, I got it on tape. Hold on." He clicked through the DVR for a minute and queued it up for them, skipping around the broadcast until he got to the start of JJ's ranting so Logan could hear the whole thing.

Listening to it the second time, Kate got mad quicker, soaking in every tiny thing that the old editor had to say as Logan leaned on the counter with his chin resting on his palm listening until it was entirely over before Bobby clicked it off. For a while, he just sat there, considering things with his eyes slightly narrowed.

"See?" Peter said. "He's not easy to argue with."

"What is this mutant menace garbage about?" Logan asked as he turned to Kate. "There're only a handful left. We've all been forced to register. How is that a menace?"

"It's coming up on an election year. You're always a menace in election years," Kate said with a sigh. She rubbed her temples and looked irritated.

"He gave you a few clues," Logan said. "On how to take him down anyhow." He looked Kate's way with a little smirk. "That whole bit about making mistakes at that age. What did _he_ do when he was younger? When did he turn editor for the _Bugle,_ and what big mistake did he make? Had to be one."

Kate looked up at Logan with the beginnings of a smirk. "Good point," she said thoughtfully. "Youthful indiscretions, JJ. So damaging."

"Youthful indiscretions from that long ago gotta be public record," Logan pointed out. "Criminal record? Torrid affair? Gotta be something. You don't get to be that big of a prick without personal experience being a jerk."

Kate grinned at that for a moment before a new thought occurred to her, and her shoulders slumped the slightest. "But I'm not going to beat him by digging up his ex-lover from a hundred years ago," she pointed out. "Even if he _did_ go after _my_ lover boy."

Logan couldn't help but smirk for a moment at Kate's frustration over JJ coming after Kurt, though he shook his head patiently. "No. No, that's not what I was thinking," he admitted. "You gotta phrase it like a compliment. 'Even the best editors have a rocky start — like you -' yadda yadda. Point out that you're ahead of him by this point. If his history is any indicator, I'll bet he blew off one of the basics of reporting — like fact checking?"

"Yeah, I don't think JJ's ever heard of that," Peter said with a smirk.

Logan just nodded his head to that. "Then you get to go in with actual facts. Discredit his claims and find out if he's got any mutants on payroll at the _Bugle_ if he's worried about equal time."

Kate nodded with the beginnings of a little grin. "I like the way you boys think."

"It's an election year, right?" Logan said. "Folks are usually real tweaked about _equal opportunity._ You can even represent yourself as one of the few non-mutants in employ here."

At that, Kate giggled gleefully before she put on a business-like expression. "Mr. Jameson, I think if the mutants you're so worried about can give me equal employment opportunities, such an upstanding citizen as yourself can be bothered to make the effort." She batted her eyelashes for good measure and broke into a wide grin.

"Yeah, see if you have any mutants on payroll already at your company too," Bobby said. "I'll bet you don't."

"Not when Dad was running things," Kate agreed.

"So for now," Logan said. "How can he accuse you of being pro-mutant with not one in your company?"

"He's going to bring in a very cute blue mutant if he can't find anything else," Kate said, the smirk slipping the slightest as she looked over at Kurt. "Which ... is when I want to destroy him most."

"Well, when you want to strangle him," Logan advised, "try to smile instead. Doesn't work for me because I growl. But it sure did the trick for Charlie."

Kate sighed out a long breath and then nodded. "Yeah. That works in stupid business dinners too." She just smirked a little bit. "Plus, the visual works in our favor. Old man yelling at a cute little girl. Shameful."

"Hateful," Logan corrected. "And sexist."

"So very much," Kate agreed. The smirk had widened into a genuine smile. "What do you think, Pete?"

"I think you should bring a coach with you when you deal with him," Peter advised. "One that isn't in a red, webbed mask."

"You're still welcome to come and watch the show and not sit in the coach's chair," she promised.

"No, no," Peter replied, shaking his head. "I still have to work with the guy from time to time."

"Then who do you suggest? I don't think I can bring Kurt without a whole new set of issues," Kate said. "And Logan would growl at him."

"Not in your best interests to be seen with me anyhow," Logan agreed. "But Bobby's pretty on top of the news. Knows which way the winds are blowin'."

Kate turned to Bobby with a sweet smile. "Pretty please?" she asked and batted her eyelashes at him.

"Um - sure?" he replied with a shrug.

"Excellent." She clapped her hands together and rubbed them. "I'm going to wipe the floor with his mustache." She took a deep drink of her coffee and just grinned at the three men for a while as the TV moved on to other news reports and the rest of the X-Men slowly came down to breakfast — pushing the conversation elsewhere.

Still, Kate had been unusually quiet through much of breakfast, and it was clear that she was plotting and planning in her head long after she and Kurt left the others to go for a bit of a walk together in the freshly fallen snow.

"You shouldn't let him get you so twisted up," Kurt said at last, his gaze on her expression as Kate was still clearly glaring about the whole thing.

She just waved at him with the hand that wasn't holding his. "I wouldn't usually. I've got thick skin, really. It's just…"

"Yes, he does seem to have a knack for getting under people's skin," Kurt supplied for her before he squeezed her hand reassuringly and then pulled her under his chin for a long, tight hug. "But you shouldn't let him do that to you, no matter how adorable you look when you're on the warpath."

"Well, if he was just coming after _me_ …" Kate shook her head and just glared for a moment before she looked up at Kurt. "That was dirty, coming after you — like you have any say in my company or like … like you're _brainwashing_ me or whatever. That's just _wrong_."

"I'm used to it," Kurt said. "Well. Not this specifically, but … the negativity."

"Well, he's _wrong_ , and I'm going to call him out on it," Kate insisted stubbornly. "You're, like, the nicest guy in the _universe_ — and he's totally exaggerating. About everything. I mean — sure there's an age gap but it's not _that_ bad!"

Kurt kind of paused and just held his breath for a moment. "He's not exaggerating," he said finally.

Kate raised both eyebrows and took a slight step back to look him over. "No, I'm pretty sure I can do the math. You're in your thirties, so — I mean, it's a little weird of a gap, but—"

"I may have fudged the numbers a bit."

"A bit?" she repeated with one eyebrow arched high. "You told me you were thirty-seven!"

He paused for a long moment and looked properly sheepish. "That's … because forty-seven sounds so _old_."

She gaped at him for a long moment before she just smacked him in the arm. "You doofus!" she half-shouted. "You can tell me about your evil dad from practically day one but you lie about your age when you still look like you're in your _twenties_!"

He had no defense but to shrug a bit and look properly disappointed in himself.

"Oh, we are not done talking about this," she promised him as she stuck a purple-gloved finger in his face. "This — this is a thing now. I have been doing my old man jokes all wrong. There is so much more material now."

He let out a bit of a breathy laugh. "Of course there is."

"I mean, first of all, now I need pictures of hippie Kurt. And _bell-bottoms_. How did you _navigate those_?" Kate said, taking an even further step back and holding up her hands in a square in front of her so she could 'frame' Kurt.

"Kate—" he just had to laugh outright and shake his head at the direction she'd chosen to go with this particular revelation.

"Don't get me wrong," she said a bit more seriously. "You lie to me again and I'll … do something, I don't know. You vain little _demon_." She rolled her eyes up at the sky. "You're just lucky I'm madder at JJ than you right now. Forty-seven. Honestly. I could have made _so many jokes_ on your birthday."

"And I'm sure you'll have one for every year I failed to disclose next year."

"Oh, for sure," she said, nodding seriously before she just had to laugh and grab his hand in hers. "You're not getting out of trouble that easy, mister."

"I certainly hope not," he said, giving her hand a little squeeze.

She just pulled his hand until he was closer so she could lean on him as they started to walk again. "I have to ask, though — I mean. You really do look my age. What's up with that? I'd never have even _known_ looking at you."

"I believe it's from a combination of having a shapeshifter and a demon for parents, actually. Slowed aging process. Not like some people … but slowed."

"So you're not going to be like Mr. Dinosaur back at the mansion and stay frustratingly ageless?"

"I doubt that," Kurt said with a dry tone. "He has far less aches and troubles than I do now."

She turned to him with a sparkle of trouble in her eyes. "Oh, have I been neglecting to take care of my old man?" she asked with just enough believable concern that she almost pulled it off. "I'll be more gentle."

"I didn't say _that._ "

"Oh good." She stood on her toes to steal a kiss. "Come on, old man, let's go inside and _warm up_ before your arthritis starts flaring up." When Kurt just gave her a _look_ , she broke into delighted cackles and just threaded her arm through his with her head on his shoulder, still giggling impishly as she was already planning more ways to tease him.

* * *

It was a week before Christmas when Kate got a call from Noh, who had been at the North Pole for a while looking over Skrull tech and tracing back the signals to see if he could find other outposts to wreck the Skrulls' plans on other planets too. He'd found a few promising signals and wanted to know if they wanted to come with him and finish out the Skrulls they'd been harassing together earlier that month — and of course, most of them were definitely game.

He had invited everyone that had come to Mars, but Scott shook his head with a rueful shrug. "It's a week before Christmas," he explained. "I really need to get back home to be there when Annie's family comes. It's really important to her."

The group of X-Men shared a look, and Scott looked ready to try and defend himself further before Logan just shrugged. "No problem, Slim. You shoulda said something sooner."

For just a second, Scott looked surprised that he hadn't needed to argue the point, but then he just decided not to look the gift horse in the mouth. "I need a ride," Scott admitted with that same rueful shrug.

"Alright, grab your crap - but take a uniform with you," Logan told him. "I'm sure those little girls would love it."

At that, Scott broke into a grin. "Leslie Ann would try to wear it," he said, already grinning wider at the thought.

"So grab her some sweats or something with the logo on it," Kurt suggested with a little smile.

"Spoil those adorable future nieces of yours," Kate agreed. "They'll love it."

At that, Kurt disappeared and reappeared a few minutes later with two bamf dolls. "Less trouble than the real thing," he said as he pressed them toward Scott.

Scott beamed wider. "You really don't have to," he said even as he took the little dolls and then shook his head. "They'll never put them down."

The little group packed up, and most of the X-Men on staff found something else for Scott to bring back to the kids as well, so they had much more packing to do than they'd anticipated — not that any one of them would complain. They loaded up, with Scott beaming at the lot of them, and in under an hour, they were airborne and on their way back to Alaska.

Harry Tabeshaw didn't bother to meet them that time, telling them it was too cold for him to go out, and instead simply had a car waiting for them at the little airport. Kate was a little disappointed that she didn't get to say hello again to someone else who understood the trouble that these X-Men were, but she had to agree with his assessment of how _freezing_ it was as she blatantly snuggled into Kurt's warm fur.

When they got Scott back home — it was apparent that there was a warm fire waiting for him as the X-Men attempted to simply drop him off…. But Annie was quicker than that and stepped out onto the porch steps before they were even at the driveway, waving at them all and insisting that they come inside for a moment so she could ply them with hot chocolate.

Logan tried to tell her that they had to get moving, but she wouldn't hear it, and it wasn't long before Scott had to smirk at him. "Come on, Logan. What's she gonna do?"

"If y'all're going off to do some good in the world, the least I can do is make sure you do it on warm, full stomachs," Annie insisted.

"Actually, we're not doing any good at all in the _world_ right now," Kate offered helpfully.

"I'm sure that's not true, or if it is, you're doing it elsewhere," Annie replied with a twinkle in her eye.

"What all did you tell her?" Logan asked Scott with a _look._

"I try not to keep secrets from my fiance. If she asked, I told her," Scott said simply.

"That … was a well worded answer," Logan admitted quietly.

Annie seized Logan by the arm to try and pull him the rest of the way inside. "Come in here before you all catch cold. This weather isn't fit for beans." She beamed at Logan in particular. "And Mary Beth wants to say hi to you again. She didn't realize you were _Wolverine_ when you came last time."

Logan glanced up at Scott, who was absolutely no help at all and was just smirking hard as Annie dragged him inside. But as Annie had said, almost as soon as they were in, the little toddler made a beeline for Scott and held her arms up to be picked up before she pointed at Logan with an excited expression. "Wolv-ine," she told Scott very seriously.

"That's right," Kate said with a delighted smile. "That's Wolvie." Scott chuckled at that and nodded in agreement as Logan tried not to give away his irritation at yet another little girl using that silly shortened version of his code name.

"Pretty sure Scotty has something for you, little darlin'," Logan said in a soft tone.

That got her to turn toward Scott with an excited little laugh. "Pwesents?" Scott couldn't stop the grin at her as he nodded and set down the bag he'd brought with him to pull out the little bamf dolls, as Leslie Ann came around the corner at the prospect of being spoiled.

"Aren't y'all just a bunch of softies," Annie said with a little smile as she could clearly tell the others had contributed to the 'pwesents.'

"We often find ourselves helping the younger crowd," Kurt said with a smile. "It's good to have things for them handy."

"If you're not careful, you'll all be covered in little bracelets before you leave," Annie warned them. "Leslie Ann has been making them and giving them out as 'kisses.'"

As the girls were giggling over the bamf dolls, another woman, who looked like Annie but was clearly the girls' mother, peered out from the living room and laughed at the scene. "Girls, make sure you say thank you to the X-Men," she said, to a chorus of 'thank you's afterward.

The group gave the girls a little wave as they took their treasures and disappeared into the living room to play, and Logan made a point to grab a hold of Scott's arm before he could disappear just to press a comm in his hand. "Just in case," Logan said seriously.

Scott nodded and pocketed the comm. "Try not to get in too much trouble out there."

"You must be thinkin' of someone else," Logan replied with a smirk.

Scott just returned the smirk and shook his head. "Good luck out there, guys. Have a Merry Christmas while you're out, too," he said, directing his comments toward the whole group. He had turned to leave and head back into the living room before Annie gave him a surprise hug, and he winced and sucked in a breath as it pulled on his stitches.

The whole of the group froze and looked over their shoulders for an instant as Scott tried to cover.

"It's nothing, Annie — just got surprised by a few Skrulls. It really isn't bad at all," he tried to explain as she folded her arms over her chest and glared at him for a moment before she just hit him lightly in the arm.

"It's not nothing. Don't play it off. And you—" she said, turning toward the others as her gaze fell on Logan in particular. "You said he'd come back fine."

Logan shrugged a little. "Came back a lot better'n he could have. He did pretty damn good for first time out in so long."

She sighed and kept her finger pointed at him for a minute longer before she put her hand down. "Next time, don't get hit," she told Scott severely as Logan smirked at them both. "If you're going to do this, we'll have to make sure you start — I don't know. Go to the gym more often or something."

"I won't get hit next time," Scott promised with a look Logan's way as Logan looked like he might burst into laughter any minute.

"That's right you won't." Annie glared at him for a moment before she broke back into her usual wide smile and hugged him a bit more carefully. With one hand still around his waist, she looked back over at the others. "Don't be strangers," she told them. "Our door is always open if you want to stop by."

"I'll keep that in mind," Logan replied. "See you around, Slim."

With that, the group slowly managed to get out of the house — past the two little girls holding bamf dolls and giving out little hugs on the way — before they finally got back to the car and drove a little ways further to where Noh's ship was waiting for them.

It was clear when Noh and Jubilee came out to greet them that they were ready to get moving, though whether it was to get out of the cold or to get back to fighting Skrulls, it seemed to be a bit of a tossup.

"I do not know how long the Skrulls will continue to use this frequency pattern, and I want to follow it while they are still unaware of our presence," Noh explained as he waved them all into the ship. "I hope you do not mind a long trip; some of these coordinates are quite distant."

"We go where we're needed," Logan said easily as he let Jubilee pull him along. "So where are we needed?"

"Four star systems away," Jubilee told him, half tucked into him as she promised to show them all where they'd be staying for the duration. "It's going to take some time to get there sneaky-like."

Logan just nodded and let her lead the way as Kate and Kurt followed behind listening to Noh describe the situation.

"And in the meantime, we will be keeping our gazes sharp," Noh told them. "I doubt the Skrulls will stop trying to get to Earth, and I would like one of us on the observation deck at all times. They seem to be… spreading." He said the last part with an expression of pure disdain.

"Well then, let's make them not do that," Kate suggested. She grinned as she moved to shoulder past Noh and patted his arm as she passed him. "I know where it is — I'll take first watch."


	7. The Little Wiccan That Could

**Notes from CC: LOVE the Bamf-o-mercial. That's exactly how it would go down. Yes. And Scruffy - you gotta admit, the last thing Scott needs in a woman is for her to be a telepath. Traditionally, it doesn't work out for him too well. For many reasons, but Emma was by far the worst possible thing that Marvel has done to him (you know. Outside of making him a team leader that preaches control who physically cannot control his own abilities - and a score of other issues. *ahem* I digress.)**

 **Notes from robbie: Yes, Kate getting all riled up for Kurt is also my favorite thing, Scruffy ;) It's half the reason I love this ship. Also YES GOOD. Annie is the best and we love her and we are so glad that you love her too. I'm with CC - Emma was horrible for Scott. (As was the decision to give the guy with control issues the responsibility of running a team/school to teach control? Seriously, we're both side-eyeing Charlie for that one.) And griezz, I'm giggling so much at your bamf infomercial oh my GOSH.**

 **Anyway, here is the next chapter, whose title still makes me giggle, fyi. :D**

* * *

The Little Wiccan That Could

* * *

Christmas on Noh's ship came and went with a few holiday songs and some mistletoe that Jubilee and Kate were basically using as weapons by the end of the day to grab their respective boys and kiss them. Logan was sure to keep watch on the observation deck while the party went on — and again on Kate's birthday about a week later as Jubilee insisted that they still had to have a dance party just the four of them — though the girls ended up more or less spending Kate's entire birthday bouncing on Jubilee's bed with hairbrush microphones just because they could.

But besides the few moments of distraction like that — the days of the trip were more or less the same, with someone on observation and someone watching the Skrull frequency as the rest of them took turns piloting or sleeping.

They were still three days out from their destination when they ran into trouble. Noh was on the observation deck when he spotted the approaching signal and swore very loudly in his native language and a few others as he ran to where Kate was piloting and breathlessly told her to get out of the way so that he could steer as the first shot went over their bow, missing them by inches.

Kate looked surprised as Noh was already sliding into the pilot's chair and pulling down holographic displays as another shot came apparently from the space in front of them, though there was no sign of the craft ahead of them.

"Shi'ar stealth tech," Noh growled out like it was a curse as he pulled down a few more displays, apparently using them as a guide to where the craft was instead of trusting his eyes as he jerked on the stick and twisted hard, narrowly avoiding another shot. "Hang on."

Almost to be helpful, part of the ship formed a little handle near Kate's head so she could do just that and hang on as Noh made another sharp turn, nearly flinging the ship around 180 degrees past the Shi'ar craft so he could return fire for just a moment before he had to tuck into a tight spin to avoid another shot from the Shi'ar.

"Hawkeye, get these guys in your sights and return fire; I'll keep them off of us," he muttered out as he gestured to the weapons controls, and he tipped the ship so she could have a better shot for just a moment before he quickly pulled up on the stick as soon as she had fired to avoid the retaliatory shot.

As he righted the ship to give Kate her next shot, though, the Shi'ar were finally able to land a good hit, and the entire craft rocked with the impact as Noh had to turn his attention just to keeping them from losing trajectory as he switched to evasive maneuvers, swearing in Kree under his breath the entire time.

Kate managed to get off another shot before the Shi'ar's retaliatory blast crippled their weapons systems and had Noh swearing in English as well as he just tried to keep them out of the Shi'ar's reach — but when another hit took out a good portion of their engines, there wasn't much he could do except to just keep cursing the Shi'ar for whatever he could think to curse them for.

By that time, the rest of their companions had finally made their way to where Kate was almost quietly watching Noh lose his cool. When her little photographer imp made to raise the camera phone, she just reached up and took it from him quickly.

Logan looked over at Kate and the expression on her face before Kurt gently asked what was going on and headed over to stand by Kate.

"Shi'ar," she said simply, tipping her head at Noh. "They took out our engines."

"Does he need … something?" Kurt asked quietly.

"Only my guns and a clear space to work," Noh said with a deep glare as he got up from the pilot's seat. "They're _not_ getting my ship."

"How many are there?" Logan asked. "We know how to cripple them."

"Judging by the size of the ship, I'd say quite a few," Noh said. The bands on his wrists morphed into the guns that he carried as he looked at the others.

"If you're going to get yourself killed, I'm never going to forgive you," Jubilee said with her arms crossed when she saw the look on his face. "But if the plan is to wreck their day, we're going with you."

At that, Noh actually cracked a bit of a smirk. "The plan is always to wreck their day, Jubilee."

"That better not include some stupid clause like 'unless I'm captured' because that is _stupid_ and no one can pull a Houdini like the X-Men." She made a point to gesture toward Kurt and Logan in particular, and as she did so sparks flew from her fingertips — a clear sign that she was getting ticked off. "One can cut through anything, I can blow up anything, and Kurt can zap us away in case of nothing else working."

"And you and I can shoot through aliens like nobody's business," Kate agreed, motioning between herself and Noh. "So let's show them who's boss."

"Yes, let's," Noh agreed, though his expression hadn't softened the slightest bit.

"We even know our way around their city," Jubilee said. "And I know about the secret tunnels under it."

"Jubilee, I do not intend to allow them to take me — or us — that far. Or at all," Noh said with a sharp look her way.

"I'm just saying, if it were to get that far — which you seem to think is the worst possible thing in the universe — I _still_ know how to get out of it." Jubilee sighed and took a step forward to rest her hand on his arm. "And clearly, I know these things because it's already been done — and I'm _still here._ "

He paused in his glaring for a moment to give her a kiss on the cheek and to say simply, "You are not Kree," before he turned to the others. "I cannot ask you to risk capture for my ship."

"Doing it anyhow," Logan replied. "But not for the ship. For Jubes. I like her a lot better when she's happy."

Noh turned Logan's way with a raised-eyebrow look for a long moment before he simply nodded. "When they board us, it will likely be this way," he said, indicating a further corridor. "The defenses are weakest there."

"Then grab your weapons if you need 'em," Logan said Kate's way before he and Jubilee shared a look and a nod in their own tried and true non-verbal agreements.

The whole of the group looked ready to go, and even one of the bamfs was sitting on Noh's shoulder and giving him a comforting sort of pat on the head before the little guy turned toward the aft corridor and bared his teeth when they heard the telltale thunk of the Shi'ar ship latching on.

Jubilee lowered her shades as she stood at Logan's shoulder, and when Kate looked their way, she saw the bruised purple marks on the backs of Logan's hands where the claws were just waiting to cut through.

Kurt had his swords drawn, and the bamfs around him were all growling low, their tails switching back and forth sharply, ready to do whatever they could think of to help in the battle. Kate already had an arrow on the string, ready to draw back the instant something happened. They were all set to go, and just before the breach happened, Jubilee looked up toward Noh. "We have a rule," she told him before tipping her head to Kate.

"And the rule is — don't die," Kate finished for her, which got the tiniest of smirks from Noh.

"A simple enough rule to follow," he said.

"It's the only one that counts," Kurt agreed. "And we do try very hard not to break it."

Noh nodded his agreement, though the moment the Shi'ar broke through his ship and the little group were able to get in their first shots, Jubilee had to wonder if he'd really been listening as he dove right in with such ferocity that he didn't seem to care where he was fighting as long as he was making life miserable for the Shi'ar.

Kate recognized what he was doing as a white run — which meant he was completely ignoring any pain, or really any stimulus at all, in favor of just focusing his every thought on the fight. It was how he had taken down her entire team and the Runaways the first time they met — and it was effective, if incredibly dangerous, since he could not feel it when he was hit. The white run allowed him to move through entire groups in a matter of seconds, and the Shi'ar were clearly caught off guard by it — but that only meant the Shi'ar hit back _hard_ once they had regrouped a bit.

When Logan and Jubilee saw how Noh was taking damage, they moved into a different stance, where Logan tried to push ahead to clear the path or take the brunt of it and sever some Shi'ar limbs before Noh could fall on his own sword as Jubilee went to blowing up anyone that seemed to be targeting him in particular, hoping that he hadn't done himself too much damage already and crossing her fingers that Logan could hold out long enough to get the job done.

Kurt and Kate, however, were magnificent and graceful by comparison. Kurt fought with both swords drawn and used his tail as a weapon as he cut through weapons and Shi'ar alike while Kate shot one invader after another. When the Shi'ar got too close to Kate, Kurt would simply teleport her up to what looked like a safer vantage point — with clear alleys to shoot — before he would reappear below, generally behind them to start in as the best swashbuckler that the universe had seen since his father.

The arrangement couldn't last forever, though. Eventually, Noh's white run all but evaporated when he took a solid hit to the chest. When that stopped him cold, one of the Shi'ar rushed in to restrain him before Logan could get there, all the while muttering curses about the Kree.

Logan growled out in frustration and tried to help Noh break loose. In a mad rush, he cut his way through two Shi'ar before a third turned his way unexpectedly and simply shot him in the head, which dropped him instantly.

When Jubilee saw what had happened, she flat out lost her temper as she just started to try and light up any Shi'ar that got too close to Wolverine's still form - or who tried to rough up Noh as he was restrained. But that didn't last long, either, as she was upset enough and distracted enough that a Shi'ar grabbed her and lifted her up, kicking, screaming, and crying.

Kurt quickly took in the situation before him and with a frustrated growl that seemed to reverberate among all the bamfs, the tiny blue imps began teleporting around the ship at incredibly rapid speeds, fueled by their rage as they tore into the Shi'ar guards around them.

Kurt was removing limbs as he teleported, a trick that he would tell Kate later was incredibly hard to do, and that he wasn't entirely sure _how_ he did it, only that he had to be completely furious to pull it off. Unfortunately, he couldn't rage fully and keep close tabs on Kate, and with their comrades down and out anyhow, it wasn't too long before Kate found herself completely surrounded.

The Shi'ar guards yanked her bow from her hands and pulled the quiver away from her, and although she fought well hand to hand — the armor they wore certainly didn't help her very much. When she was finally subdued — and very angry — one of the Shi'ar called out to Kurt to get his attention.

"Call off your pets and surrender," the Shi'ar commander ordered Kurt as the other Shi'ar soldiers made his point for him by taking his three friends in tighter holds. When Kurt paused and looked toward the commander, the Shi'ar fighter bared his teeth and made a motion for his fellow soldiers to make their points more succinctly, with a couple soldiers roughing up Noh, another trying to clap a hand over Jubilee's mouth and nose, and one Shi'ar holding Kate drawing a long blade to hold just below her chin.

"Call off your pets and surrender," the Shi'ar commander repeated, "or we will kill your allies one by one."

Kurt looked at his captured friends with wide eyes as the rage he had been building seemed to only burn hotter on seeing their state before he finally teleported a few feet in front of the commander with a glare that could kill on its own, grudgingly surrendering so that he didn't have to watch another of their group fall — though he lost much of his steam being so close to where Wolverine still was completely motionless. Kurt stared at Logan as they restrained him, practically holding his own breath as he hoped for Logan to just ... take a breath. _Just one_.

The bamfs all looked upset as well, little growls still echoing the corridors of the ship as a couple of them sat on Logan's chest and stared at him intently while a few others were hovering in the air close by Kurt practically waiting for a reason to fight again. Every one of them looked either concerned or downright angry.

"We're not interested in your little pets," said the Shi'ar commander as he roughly pulled Kurt forward once he was restrained. "Tell them to stand down and stay put — and maybe we'll leave the life support systems operational on this pitiful Kree scrap heap long enough for some scavengers to find them."

Kurt looked to the bamfs and gave them a single nod, and none of them looked happy as they teleported away from him and instead gathered around Logan, little arms folded and tails switching behind them as they clearly disagreed with being left behind.

The Shi'ar commander looked smug as he looked over his catch and informed them, "You're under arrest for violating Shi'ar territory, for harboring fugitives, and for resisting arrest," as the lot of them were dragged from the ship and into Shi'ar custody.

On seeing that they were leaving Logan behind, Jubilee started to fight again, her teeth clenched together as she tried to wrestle from her guard's grip and threw her head back to crack him in the mouth, stomping at his feet and using even her cuffed hands as weapons as she tried to beat them back, tears still streaming down her cheeks. "I just got him back!" she cried out as two new guards managed to wrestle her down. "Let me go, you losers!"

The hits that Noh had taken during his white run were finally starting to show as he had a hard time even trying to edge out his guard to get a better view of Jubilee and make sure she was alright, but he didn't sound like he was as worn as he was when he was practically spitting, shouting, "Do not touch her!" Which only had the Shi'ar holding him laughing as they just roughly pulled him back and held him down tighter.

"Calm yourselves," Kurt said almost sharply. "There's nothing we can do right now, there's no sense in making this worse." He still had his jaw locked and he was talking through his teeth as he said it, and only the very tip of his tail was switching as they were manhandled away from Noh's ship, but he couldn't help but steal one more glance back at his friend and the bamfs surrounding him.

* * *

The first thing that Logan felt when he started to wake up was the tiny, fuzzy hand on his cheek that was insistently pressing on him as its owner muttered 'bamf' over and over. When he opened his eyes, there were three sets of yellow eyes blinking back at him as the chattering began, but it took him a good few minutes to understand what they were saying.

He got to his feet and let the bamfs lead him around, though it was pretty clear that outside of the bamfs, he was the only one on the crippled ship. "I don't suppose you know where they all went do you?" Logan asked toward one of the bamfs, though he wasn't surprised in the least when the little guy just shook his head.

He looked around cautiously, not one to put it past the Shi'ar to have set up some booby traps in case anyone was still alive on the vessel. When he got to the bridge, he let out a sigh. Weapons were down too. Nothing was going to work, and he was stranded. He made his way over to the comms and took a moment to figure out how exactly to even call for help, and once he got that far — he was all the more surprised when the one to pick up the other end of the comm was Scott.

"Where are you?" Scott asked, sounding both concerned and annoyed — which was the norm when Logan had to call him for help.

"Why, you busy?" Logan shot back.

"As it happens, yeah I was," Scott said.

"It's fine — just pass the message on," Logan replied with a little wave. "Storm can handle it. I'm not sure exactly where I am anyhow, and I'm not going anywhere."

"Keep a line open. I'm sure the mansion can pick up your signal better than I can," Scott advised. "We can get coordinates from there."

"Will do," Logan replied. He paused before he just let out a breath and tried to give Scott a little more background to the situation so he'd be prepared when he got there. "We got hit by Shi'ar. They're all captive — I _think_."

There was a long pause on the other end before Scott sighed. "Alright. We'll find the others once we lock in on your position."

"Thanks, Slim," Logan replied. "Blackbird's still in your backyard, more or less."

"Then I guess you'd better expect to see it out your window soon."

"We're a few systems over, not sure on her range, to be honest," Logan told him.

"I'll figure it out," Scott said.

"I know you will."

* * *

The outpost where the Shi'ar ship landed was, as Noh pointed out in increasingly frustrated tones under his breath, in Kree territory. The large asteroid was a veritable gold mine of fuel sources - and that seemed to be what the Shi'ar were doing there, if the infrastructure was anything to go by, with mining equipment and storage facilities scattered across the area where they had touched down.

One of the Shi'ar was even sure to point out, gleefully, that they could see a Kree mining outpost from one part of the landing platform. "The half-wits have no idea we're even here," the guard said, practically cackling at the situation as he warned Noh not to get any bright ideas about trying to make a break for Kree territory.

All four of them were manhandled through the outpost until they reached a large holding cell, which already held a few Kree prisoners who had apparently gotten too close to the mining operations and were captured — as well as a couple Shi'ar slaves.

After they were searched one last time and their comms and badges were taken from them, they were unceremoniously shoved inside and left there, and as soon as they were relatively alone, the little group tried to take better stock of each other.

Jubilee had immediately made her way to Noh and was steadfastly trying to not look him in the face as she fussed over his injuries and just in general tried to pretend like she hadn't just completely lost her composure, though the way her hands were shaking was a total giveaway even if he couldn't see her face.

"Jubilee," he said quietly as he grabbed one of her hands in his and tried to catch her eye.

"I just want to make sure you're okay," she said very quietly.

"I will heal soon enough," he said dismissively, this time taking her chin in his hand to tilt her face so he could see her. "You are upset," he said in a tone that sounded just as upset to match.

She finally glanced up at him with tears in her eyes as she tried to shrug it off. "I'll be fine."

"Of course you will be," Noh said, nodding firmly. "I shall make sure of it." With that, he wrapped her up in both arms, doing his very best not to wince as he did so as he just pulled her as tightly as he was able. As soon as he did, she wrapped both arms around his neck and just melted into him, letting herself go entirely.

"Can't you control one hysterical Terran?" asked one of the Kree in the cell with them with obvious disdain as he watched Jubilee fall apart.

"I shall deal with my Terran friends as I see fit — and I'll thank you to keep your nose out of our business," Noh replied shortly as he just responded by holding Jubes all the more tenderly and stroking her hair.

After a few minutes, Jubilee drew in a deep breath and seemed to settle out a bit, though she hadn't let him go. When she finally picked her head up off his shoulder, she wiped the tears from her cheeks and turned to look at the Kree who had been rude before she just sniffed and flung a plasmoid right at his face that erupted in a shower of sparks and bright light. "Jerk."

Noh looked rather proud of her as Kate snorted at the display. "So ... is there a plan here?" she asked Kurt almost tentatively as she scooted a bit closer to him.

Kurt looked thoughtful for a moment before he simply sighed. "For the moment, we don't have a means to call for help or to let our friends know where we are," he admitted, but when Kate looked a bit wide-eyed at his answer, he sighed again. "We'll think of something, I'm sure."

* * *

Scott had only just climbed into the blackbird and started to run the coordinates from Logan's message to see if he could pinpoint where Noh's ship was when he was surprised to hear his cell phone ringing.

He didn't recognize the number, and so, half-distracted, he just answered it with a quick, "This is Cyclops."

"Yes, hello, sorry to bother you?" came the response from a voice that sounded young and was talking very, very fast. "This is Wiccan. You know — Kate's friend?"

It took Scott a moment to place the name, but when he did, he just sighed. "Wiccan, I'm sorry, but I don't have time right now to—"

"No, this'll be quick. I just…" Billy's voice on the other side paused, and Scott realized now that he sounded downright worried. "Kate hasn't updated her page in ages, and no one is picking up their phones or responding to my messages or anything, and I tried calling Wolverine and Kurt and the other Hawkeye and I'm just really hoping maybe she's out on an X-Men mission, so I thought I'd try you?" The young man said all this in a rush of words so quickly that Scott had to pause what he was doing so he could listen more closely.

Scott let out a sigh when Billy paused for breath. "Wiccan, you were right to be concerned when your friend dropped out of contact," he admitted, partly to calm down the young man and partly because clearly Billy was still young enough that he needed the confirmation. "I've just been in contact with Wolverine, and there's been an attack — but I promise you, I'm headed there now myself to go help your friend and the others."

"An attack? What happened? Where are you going? Maybe we can meet you there and help," Billy offered quickly, sounding alarmed.

Scott shook his head the slightest bit. "I'm not sure that I can take a few untested recruits along for a mission like this," Scott said sincerely, though he was sensible enough to make sure he kept a bit of disappointment in his voice as he did so.

"Um, no offense? But this is my best friend? So ... I can find her without you if I have to." Billy said, and Scott had to sigh, recognizing the determination in his voice.

"Alright, here's the deal," Scott said, deciding to level with him. "Noh's ship is crippled, and I'm not sure where everyone else is, but I know where Wolverine is. It's going to take me about twenty minutes or so to make the alterations to the blackbird to get the job done. If you can be here by the time I'm ready to go, fine. I could probably use the extra hands. But I'm not waiting for you."

"Great. See you in fifteen," Billy replied before he hung up, and Scott was left shaking his head with a little smirk at the confidence in the young man's tone.

It had been actually seventeen minutes when a very bright light suddenly appeared in the middle of the blackbird and formed itself into a large, five-pointed star before the whole thing shattered and a group of four young heroes stepped through. Billy and Teddy had apparently called up America Chavez to get them there fast, and Tommy Shepherd was already ready to go as he zipped right up to Scott and said, "Sorry we're late. My fault. I had to stop for food. So, let's go to space, right? What's stopping us?"

"Just finishing up the alterations," Scott said with a little smirk as he looked up from his work. "You know how to get to the lab? We're taking Henry in case someone needs medical attention."

"Oh, yeah, I learned how to get there when we were there for Kate's prank thingy," Tommy agreed. "Back in a flash." The only thing that slowed him on the way out was opening the door to the blackbird so he could zip over.

"While we wait for Henry, why don't you guys go put on a uniform? Locker rooms just down the hall have spares, and they hold up pretty well against Shi'ar weaponry," Scott suggested.

Billy and Teddy both looked _over the moon_ at the suggestion as they all but raced each other down to the locker room, and America paused to cock her hip and smirk at Scott. "You just made their late Christmas," she informed him.

"They're nice guys," Scott replied with a shrug.

"Yeah, they are. But I just bought this hoodie," America said, tugging at the red hood that covered part of her hair. "But the offer was noted and appreciated, _chico_."

"I think I can spot a red hood, so that's perfect," Scott replied. "For the most part, it's just to help me keep tabs on where our guys are."

America just smirked at him and nodded as, a few moments later, Tommy reappeared literally carrying a surprised Henry bridal style. "One Beast, as ordered," Tommy said with a huge grin. "I hope you tip generously. Rush delivery and all that."

"Sorry, Hank," Scott supplied with a crooked grin as he closed up a panel on the blackbird. "Alterations are done, so she's sound for intergalactic travel. If you're okay on supplies, then we're ready when you are."

"I take it that you're temporarily recruiting Wanda's boys?" Henry asked as he straightened his glasses a bit once Tommy had set him down.

"For now," Scott replied with an unmistakable smirk. "They want to help, and I'm not going to say no."

"Not that he could if he tried," America said, smirking wide behind Scott.

"That tends to help in the decision-making process," Scott replied over his shoulder.

"So, do we know where we're going?" asked Teddy as he stepped back out of the locker rooms, now wearing a uniform and positively grinning ear to ear.

"Roughly," Scott replied. "I know where Wolverine was at our last contact - he's supposed to be keeping the line open so we can pinpoint him when we get closer. But it might take some time to get there."

"Anything we can do in the meantime to help?" Teddy asked politely.

Scott just shrugged. "I guess if you want, you can get a little time learning to fly."

Teddy's smile just widened. "Really? That would be great!"

"Well, she's faster than most," Scott said. "But even so, I figure we've got about a week just to get to Wolverine. I can't fly the whole way alone. Unless you have another way?"

The boys looked to America, who just let out a sigh and shook her head. "Not if I don't have an exact location — and even then, my kind of shortcut isn't exact. I could spit us back out in empty space." She made a face. "Not good."

"I could try speeding us up," Billy offered as he too joined the group in his new uniform. "Maybe shave a few days off the travel time."

"That would be great," Scott said with a smile his way.

"Yes, the sooner the better," Henry agreed. "Shi'ar have been taking prisoners as slaves. I'd rather not leave them with that regime for long."

"No, definitely not," Tommy agreed quickly, wide-eyed and shaking his head hard. "Faster's better; that's what I always say."

* * *

Logan felt as if he'd paced a path on Noh's bridge in the days since he'd contacted Scott.

He'd kept the line open, but he'd also made sure to try and figure out how to use the damn systems to scan for where the kids had gotten off to. When he found what he was pretty sure was Noh, he'd just watched the spot on the map while Noh's crippled ship drifted away from it.

The bamfs had taken to pacing with him, or just sitting on whatever surface they could fit on, tapping their fingers and letting their tails twitch behind them in irritation at being cooped up for so long and so far away from anything _fun._

So by the time the perimeter alarms went off, all of them were growling and looking for a fight. He figured it was just a matter of time before pirates or scavengers or someone came poking around, and he had already decided that whoever it was that had decided to come after that ship had limited time to breathe before he absconded with _their_ ship — whatever the hell it was.

Noh's communications system made a sort of chirping noise as a hail came through. "Wolverine, are you alright in there?" Scott's voice asked over the comm.

Three different bamfs rushed over to hit the right button, fighting among themselves to be the one to press it before Logan stepped forward to answer. "Yeah, I'm pissed off, but I'm alright."

"That's good to hear." Scott gave him a little nod before he added, "We're coming aboard."

"Yeah, do whatever you gotta do," Logan said with a little sigh. At least with Scooter there, it meant there was going to be some forward motion.

A few moments later, Logan was surprised to see that it wasn't just Scott but Hank and what looked like the entirety of Kate's old team — all of the boys wearing X-Men uniforms — that came over to board. The group of them looked around at the damage that had been done — the ship was still healing and there were a few scorch marks everywhere, not to mention the larger sections that hadn't come back online yet.

"Looks like we missed the fight," America muttered.

"Damn Imperial Shi'ar," Logan growled out, irritated just at the name by this point. "Noh nearly missed 'em entirely. We're lucky this was _all_ that happened."

"You were boarded by Imperial Shi'ar, and they left you _behind?_ " Scott asked, brow furrowed. "How did that happen, anyway?"

"As I understand it, I wasn't exactly breathing at the time," Logan replied. "Got shot in the head. Pretty sure they thought I was dead."

Scott frowned deeply at his answer. "How did that happen?" he muttered in a low tone.

"Trying to protect the kids," Logan half snarled in response. "How else was it gonna happen?"

"And the bamfs?" Scott asked.

"I really don't know about that part. They said Kurt told them to stay, but …"

"Why would he do that?" Tommy asked as he peered down at a bamf who bared its teeth at him.

Logan growled low at the bamf before he corrected him. "Stop that; it's not his fault you're stuck here."

The bamf — and a few others — growled back at him and crossed their arms, irritation obvious in the tone of the string of 'bamfs' they let out as argument.

"I already told you that you can kill the guys that marooned us," Logan said to the bamfs before he turned his attention back to Scott. "They're in a mood."

"They're not the only ones," Scott said with a smirk before he looked around the ship for a moment. "The observation deck is this way, right? I wonder if Noh's ship picked up a trail for the others."

"It took some time, but I think I found Noh, anyhow," Logan told him as he showed him the maps and the ping that indicated Noh.

"It's a place to start, at any rate. Hopefully they haven't been separated," Scott said with a nod.

"How's the blackbird holding up?" Logan asked. "Had to be hauling to get here that quick."

"We had a bit of help," Scott said, tipping his head at Billy, who raised a tired hand in greeting. The kid looked like he hadn't slept a wink the entire way out and looked, quite simply, drained.

"You alright, kid?" Logan asked, eyeing him a little warily. "Looks like you need a break."

Billy looked between Scott and Logan and straightened up a bit. "I'm good. I just ... it takes a lot out of me, playing the little engine that could."

"You need a break," Scott agreed. "What can we do to fix this ship and give the blackbird — and Wiccan — a break?"

"We spent months in this ship," America offered. "Our team knows how to talk to it. If you give us a little while, we can help it heal."

The two X-Men shared a look and just made way for the kids to do their thing. Whatever that was.

"They talk about the ship like it's alive," Scott said after the kids had gone. "Or ... sentient."

"It found Noh on its own," Logan said with a little shrug. "With all the weird crap we've seen in the past? Wouldn't surprise me one bit."

Scott nodded thoughtful before he looked Hank's way. "In the meantime, we can show you where the medical facilities are," he told Hank. "Allow you to set up shop on the ship, if there's anything you need to bring over from the blackbird."

Hank just nodded at that. "Lead the way."


	8. Jailbreak

**Notes from CC: Glad to see you sticking with us and hanging in there … it just keeps getting better, I think. Lots more in store (seriously you have no idea. It's lot lined up for those that shall remain faithful)**

 **Notes from robbie: Actually, I wasn't much of an America fan when she first showed up. (But I also wasn't a Kate fan when she first showed up.) But these girls grew on me and now I love them. *snuggles them hard* As for cameos, well… you'll just have to see. The Marvel universe is** _ **huge**_ **. And we have** _ **plans**_ **.**

* * *

 **Jailbreak**

* * *

When Noh's ship took the group of rescuers to Kree territory, they followed the ping that was Noh to the other side of the asteroid, past the Kree facilities that didn't seem to look twice at another Kree ship, until Scott landed them a bit outside the Shi'ar operations, well-hidden in a pocket of rock on the asteroid that they would not have noticed but for the persistent ping leading them on.

It seemed the Shi'ar were mining the asteroid for fuel, and as the group of Young Avengers and X-Men carefully made their way through the facility — with Billy muttering _Wewanttobeinvisible_ the whole time they were searching — they only went deeper into the asteroid itself. As they went, each of them was frowning deeper as they saw a few captured Kree and other prisoners who were working in the mines — dirty, tired, and clearly on the verge of collapse.

The deeper they traveled into the mines, the more Logan was clenching and unclenching his hands in fists as they saw the state of affairs, and Teddy was surprised when Scott put a hand on his shoulder and very quietly pulled him around to his other side so that Scott was the only one standing close to Logan as they kept trekking further along.

They finally found the first of their friends after about half an hour of searching. It was obvious they were getting close when Logan very suddenly picked his head up to sniff the air and then took a quicker pace as he headed in a more determined direction instead of the wandering path they had been taking until then — and the rest of the group followed after him at a quick pace.

When at last they rounded the corner to find a very miserable-looking Jubilee they all had to simply pause. She was dirty and clearly exhausted as she and some other prisoners worked the mining equipment, but the thing that had Logan only just barely holding back the growl was the fact that he could see there were tear tracks on her dirty face.

Logan was halfway to her when Scott rushed forward and put a hand in the center of his chest.

"We haven't found the others yet, and you'll set off the alarms — who knows what they'll do to their prisoners if they think there's a jailbreak," Scott said reasonably in a low tone, though he was also looking Jubilee's way and looked simply thunderous.

Logan let out a frustrated huff but nodded, though it was clear he was mostly just worried for her. "I hear ya, Slim," Logan replied quietly. "I just don't like it."

"Yeah, I know," Scott had to agree, just frowning hard as the two of them led the charge deeper into the mining operation.

Though the two X-Men were moving silently, the rest of their group was not. They were doing well by Shi'ar standards, and even walking right past a guard, but Logan knew that was only a matter of luck because the guard was too focused on leering at one of the prisoners. So the soldier was not tipped off, but when they rounded the corner to spot Noh, it was clear to those that were watching him closely that he knew something was up. Like Jubilee, he was clearly dirty and tired, though he also had the marks of injury from his capture and from being a Kree in a Shi'ar mining operation — but he had his head tipped to the side as he was clearly just… listening.

Very quietly, Logan whispered out "See you in a few" as they passed through.

At that, Noh just smirked and nodded the slightest, but that was the only indication he gave that he had heard them — and none of the guards seemed to have noticed anything.

A while later, when they finally found Kate and Kurt, it was in a slightly more open area where there were more workers and guards. Like the other two, they were clearly exhausted, dirty, and worn as they worked the equipment under the watchful eye of the Shi'ar.

It was a good thing that the two of them were in the same area — though on opposite sides of the complex — because despite Logan's whispered threats to the bamfs to be quiet, they almost couldn't help but let out a little chorus of growls at seeing Kurt and their pretzel friend in such condition and, before anyone could stop them, they had teleported right over to the ceiling above their friends to be closer, only getting more upset and growling more obviously at the up-close look they got at the exhausted pair.

"Looks like our cover's blown," Tommy muttered to Logan as the Shi'ar were suddenly more alert, looking for the source of the chorus of growls as they were already starting to move to round up their prisoners as a precautionary measure.

"Get 'em out," Logan replied. "Then we can break everything you don't like the look of."

"Thought you'd never ask," Tommy said, giving Logan a little two-finger salute before he dashed off in the direction they'd come, headed for Noh and Jubilee, while the bamfs seemed to have things well in hand for Kate and Kurt, teleporting the two of them out of the mining complex and then returning a few moments later with murderous glares as they turned their fury toward the Shi'ar who had done their friends such damage.

As soon as the bamfs started to scatter and get to causing trouble, Logan let his claws fly and just tore into the nearest guard, though Scott was sure to bark out a warning to the Young Avengers to stay clear of Logan, and once Logan really started to let loose, Scott quickly amended his advice for them to avoid him entirely.

Scott started blasting, but it wasn't too long before one of the Shi'ar guards got the drop on him and made the poor decision to try and remove Scott's ruby quartz glasses. Instead of getting nervous or even the least bit upset, Scott calmly responded by closing his eyes just long enough to face the guy, then retrieve them from what was left of the guard.

America was leaving her own mark on the Shi'ar who came anywhere close to Billy, who was still pretty wiped from keeping them invisible _and_ powering the blackbird on the trip over — and it didn't take long at all before her fists and face were pretty well splattered in enough blood that she looked like she could have been related to Logan.

Meanwhile, Teddy had shapeshifted into one of the Shi'ar guards and was getting the drop on them the sneaky way — though he made it a point to stay clear of Scott and Logan while he looked like that. It was also an effective disruptive technique, as the guards were suddenly wary of even each other.

A few minutes later, Scott was surprised when Tommy burst through the wall next to him and then put his hands on his knees to get his breath. "Gah. Alien metal tastes weird when you go through it," Tommy muttered, shaking his head and making a face.

"How are Noh and Jubilee?" Scott asked.

"They're going to need juice boxes or something at _least_ ," Tommy said. "But I left them with Kate and Nightcrawler and a couple of those little demon things. But maybe we should finish this up quick. They, uh, don't look too good. Any of them."

Scott nodded his agreement and just went back to blasting blasting as the former Young Avenger beside him just started to throw out his hands and send out destructive waves that blew the Shi'ar apart from the inside out. Between the two of them, they were dealing damage not only to the Shi'ar but also to the mining operation — and leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.

Logan, in his raging, had just torn through two guards at once and turned to find his next target when two more guards opened fire on him, hitting him in the chest and neck. From where he stood a ways back, Scott could hear it when the projectiles ricocheted off the adamantium bones, and with a wicked roar, Logan completely lost what little grip he had on his focus and sanity.

Scott was quick to hop on the comms as he cautiously watched him from behind a rocky outcropping to direct the Young Avengers as well as he could. "Keep _far_ away from Logan, he's gone berserk — no one is safe, our side _or_ theirs, until he comes out of it."

"Good to know," Teddy's response came over the comms, sounding a bit worried until America reported that she was taking Billy and going somewhere else to see if they could collapse some mining equipment.

Leaving Logan to just _rage_ behind him, Scott followed America's signal until he caught up with the rest of the Young Avengers. The kids seemed to be having a blast — especially Tommy, who seemed to relish the excuse to destroy things as he just shattered equipment and aliens as quickly as he could.

"Join the party," America called out to Scott when she saw him, and he had to smirk as he did just that, helping Tommy to destroy equipment while America and Teddy punched their way through Shi'ar, and Billy's little glowing projectiles kept up a steady stream of distractions for the guards that tried to stop them.

Behind them and through his haze, Logan was still working his way toward the exit, if nothing else because he was chasing down those Shi'ar that were trying to run away from him and cutting them down from behind, their screams echoing ahead of them to warn the others of his impending arrival.

The Shi'ar fired increasingly desperate shots his way, but it was only answered with an enraged roar and more screams from the guards that were trying to hold their ground as Logan tore into them in his frenzy.

"Stay back," Scott reminded the Young Avengers as he put a hand on Billy's chest to remind him to stay where he was. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the kid had his cell out to record — and likely had been doing so for much of their adventure - and he just put his hand out for it. "Not this."

Billy blinked at Scott for a minute and then put the phone in the palm of Scott's hand with a bit of a sigh. "Don't lose it."

"How would I get a hold of you otherwise?" Scott said with a tiny smirk.

It wasn't long before the previously enslaved teammates arrived on the scene to help. It looked like Noh had managed to get his hands on a Shi'ar gun, which he had used to blast a hole in the wall, though he tossed it to Kate once the little group saw that they had finally found their teammates and he ran in to fight hand-to-hand, with Kate firing behind him and Jubilee working up a few plasmoids to help break equipment. Kurt teleported over into the middle of the rest of the bamfs, who were delighted to have him around to help them wreck the place.

Before too long, there wasn't much to do for most of the group but just keep out of the way and wait for Logan to make his way to the entrance of the mine and then head out, but when Jubilee heard his snarl, she stopped dead in her tracks and turned in his direction and started to walk forward.

When Noh saw where she was headed, he stopped what he was doing and redirected his attention her way with wide eyes. "Jubilee — no, that… do _not_ do that," he half-spluttered even as Scott was saying more or less the same thing, trying to get her to back down.

Instead of finding cover or even acting like she'd heard what Noh and Scott were shouting, Jubilee just started running right for Logan past the flow of traffic that was trying to escape, and when she found him, he was still pretty well wrapped up in a full rage. Scott called out for her to stop, back up, hide — any number of reasonable suggestions that he could come up with — and Noh was simply positioning himself to take down Logan if he hurt her ... but Jubilee had her own way of dealing with a berserk Wolverine and simply ran right for him against _everyone's_ protests.

Logan was mid-snarl when he spotted her, but she didn't even slow down as she rushed in and simply wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug. She started whispering something to him that Scott had never managed to catch over the years, and after a few moments, he retracted his claws and just returned the embrace with a heavy sigh.

Noh looked entirely relieved and leaned against the side of a demolished mining rig to get his breath as he looked over the rescue team. For a long moment, there was silence in the demolished mining facility before he caught Scott's gaze. "I am not sure whether to joke here and ask what took so long — or to thank you profusely and genuinely," he admitted with a small smirk.

"Let's just get outta here," Jubilee suggested, as she and a very blood-soaked Logan walked up arm in arm to the group.

"No arguments there," America agreed. "This place is pretty well trashed anyway, and you look like you need a shower, Glitter Bomb." She tipped her head Jubilee's way with a small smile. "Nice to see you in one piece."

"Nice to see you too — love the hoodie," Jubilee replied with a little wink, to which America just responded with a brilliant grin.

The group of rescuers took just a moment to take stock of each other and especially of the four they had come to rescue in the first place. More than anything, it looked like they were just tired and half-starved — so they just needed to get to the ship so Hank could double-check and then stuff them with Twinkies.

They were about halfway to Noh's ship when the next wave of trouble showed up, however — in the form of a Shi'ar ship coming in for a landing.

"Ah," Kurt said quietly, almost weary as he glanced up at the new challenge. "I believe that was meant to be our ride," he said to the other three former captives, who all glared at the ship like it had personally insulted them.

"You have any more in you, Logan?" Scott asked, to which Logan just nodded.

"Yeah, I think so," he replied, stepping out from Jubilee's grasp and shaking his arms out. "Be easier if I had someone that could give me a lift though."

At that, Tommy looked Logan over sideways for a moment before he broke into a wide and cocky grin. "Yeah, I think I can throw that far."

"You sure? I'm not exactly a lightweight," Logan replied with a raised eyebrow.

Tommy just let out a little laugh and flexed his muscles. "I might not look it, but I can handle heavy loads. Just tell me you don't weigh a _ton_ or something."

"Right around three hundred pounds. Give or take," Logan replied. "Metal's heavy."

Tommy nodded and thought about it. "Alright. I'll have to take a running start."

"Usually a fastball special is Colossus' turf," Kurt told him, but Tommy just seemed that much more excited about it on hearing that — not at all discouraged or dissuaded.

"Uh-huh." Tommy held his hands out in front of him, making a little square with his fingers to size Logan up one more time before he just nodded once, backed up several steps, and then took off at a run — and before Logan knew what had quite hit him, he was flying toward the ship.

He popped his claws and got them in front of him just in time to breach the hull, though he didn't go all the way through the ship. Instead, he hit a supporting beam inside and sliced that into shreds before tearing into every bit of machinery and weaponry around him waiting for the guards to show up.

Outside, they didn't have to wonder long if it had worked as the ship's sirens began to go off not long after the hull breach, and shortly after that, it began to spew smoke and list to the left hard. The ship set down quickly, and the group rushed forward to meet the Shi'ar that were sure to come out looking for a fight as small, muted explosions echoed inside the crippled ship.

"At least it's just a prison transport and not a warship," Kurt called out to Kate as the two of them dove into the new battle alongside the bamfs who were clearly tickled to have them both around to cause more trouble — while still keeping half an eye on their tired and dirty big brother and pretzel friend. One of the bamfs was even perched on Kate's shoulder and bared his teeth at every. Single. Shi'ar. who looked at her sideways.

"Ah, there's the silver lining I was looking for!" Kate called back to Kurt as she used the borrowed Shi'ar weapon to blast the guards that poured out of the new ship. "I only have half a warship left in me anyway."

The battle got all the more interesting a short time later when there was a cry from the guards still on the ship, and shortly afterward, all sorts of different species of life began to trickle out of the transport, including a pretty healthy population of Kree, some of which were armed with Shi'ar weaponry.

Noh burst into a wide grin when he saw that and called out to Jubilee, who was nearest, "Remind me to thank Wolverine. I'm sure it's his doing that my fellow Kree are free and _armed_."

She just grinned his way and blew him a kiss before detonating a particularly large paff in the face of a quickly approaching guard.

With the prisoner population armed as well, this battle didn't last nearly as long as the one in the mines, which was a relief especially to the X-Men who had been captured - as they were tiring out fast. By the time the Shi'ar had been thoroughly routed, and Logan had finally gotten tired of sabotage and killing to just cut his way out of the hull of the ship, it looked like the prisoners Logan had freed had more or less taken over, so the X-Men and Young Avengers decided to leave them to their revenge and just get back to Noh's ship and get some much-deserved rest.

Once they got back to the ship, Noh gave the hull an affectionate sort of pat and a muttered, "Miss me?" on the way, though his sedate smile slipped substantially when he saw that Hank was waiting to look them all over — and he quickly skirted around the good doctor to the cockpit with a muttered excuse that he was going to get them "off this hunk of rock."

Hank glanced toward Noh with a frown before he turned his attention to the rest of the group the moment they were all inside, with a sideways glance at the very bloodied Logan as well as the nearly-as-bloodied Tommy and America.

He ignored Logan for a moment in favor of the other two. "Are either of you injured?" Hank asked kindly.

The two of them glanced at each other, appraised the other, and then shook their heads almost in perfect sync. "Not unless you count a couple bruised knuckles," America said with a shrug.

"And a real need for some _food_ ," Tommy agreed as he bumped America's shoulder with his.

"Ah, well. I find that when observing a fairly bloodied person, if it's not Logan, I am compelled to be sure of their condition without making rash assumptions," Hank replied, though he did look a bit relieved to hear that neither of them had been hurt. "If you feel woozy at all, you know where to find me."

"Actually, this is pretty normal for them," Teddy explained helpfully.

"It's nice to know that there are others out there capable of giving most doctors a small coronary episode," Hank replied before moving on to the ex-prisoners.

"Ooh! I need a check up," Jubilee volunteered, rushing over to start by wrapping Hank in a warm hug. He smirked her way, knowing exactly what she was up to, but still went through his standard triage on her before giving her a kiss on the forehead and a Twinkie.

"You seem a bit in need of sustenance, rest, and water, but otherwise — you are free to go, Jubilation," he told her with a bit of a smile.

"That's a little more substantial than a lollipop," Kate said with a little smirk as she tipped her head at the Twinkie in Jubilee's hand.

"I couldn't keep the lollipops in stock," Hank replied. "Not with her in the house stealing them all the time. Besides," he shrugged. " _I_ prefer a Twinkie while I'm hard at work."

Kate just smirked a little wider. "I'm more of a chocolate person myself. Or _sweet_ little elves - but they're distracting when you're working," she added with a smile Kurt's way as the Elf in question just grinned and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek.

"You're not my only patient that prefers chocolate," Hank said, leaning in close. "I also have some Suzy Q's in the back, but that's between you and I."

She grinned brilliantly. "I think you might be my new favorite."

As Hank continued to look over the group, Kurt got a little extra attention from the bamfs, who were trying very hard to press various snack foods into his hands — and did the same for Kate as soon as she'd finished with Hank, seeing as it seemed the general consensus was that anyone who had been taken prisoner needed to be _fed_.

"I hope they weren't too much trouble for you, Logan," Kurt said as he ruffled one of the bamfs' hair. "Four days is a long time to be stranded with little demons before they had Kate's friends to distract them."

"They were fine. Worried about you two more than anything else," Logan admitted sleepily.

"I can see that," Kurt said with a faint smile as he tipped his head at Kate, who was getting the concerned treatment by one bamf with a bag of pretzels who was watching to make sure she ate them and would pat her head every time she did. Kurt turned to the other two X-Men on the rescue party and shook his head. "Your timing couldn't have been better. How _did_ you make it here so fast?"

"Kate's friends," Logan admitted. "Wiccan wore himself out apparently making the blackbird move faster."

"The way he explained it, the spells that have continuous upkeep are the most draining," Scott added. "Wouldn't be surprised if he slept through the entire return trip."

"And he ran that one for what - three? Four days?" Logan asked shaking his head. "Kid did good."

"He'd be glad to hear it," Kurt said with a soft smile before he sighed and leaned against the wall, his arms crossed. The three older X-Men just watched Hank checking over Billy and Teddy for a moment before Kurt started to quietly fill the others in. "I doubt this will be the last we see of the Shi'ar. Their new emperor seems to be determined to carry out a vendetta against the Kree and the X-Men for nearly collapsing their empire when last we met."

"I thought they were more or less overtaken by the Kree Empire," Scott said with a frown. "Or have I been out of the loop for that long?"

"They were, up until the Kree were all but flattened by J'Son," Kurt admitted. "This is a new development, and a troubling one." He tipped his head for a moment in Kate and Jubilee's direction as the two of them were sharing a bag of candy a couple bamfs had brought them. "If you hadn't come when you did, by the time you arrived on that asteroid, we three would be at the Shi'ar homeworld in _display_." He said the last word with extreme distaste, his tail switching behind him. "Though they'd have kept Noh here — he's a Kree warrior, not an X-Man. Jubilee was not pleased about it."

"Then I'm glad Kate's friends decided to come along when they did to give us a boost," Scott said with a sigh before he put a hand on Kurt's shoulder. "Why don't you let Beast look you over? And then all four of you should get some rest. We'll deal with everything else was you guys are back up to full."

"I'm not too proud to admit I can use it," Kurt agreed with a sigh before he rested his hand on Scott's shoulder and then stepped forward to give him a very quick hug. "I was glad to see you again."

"It was good to be fighting with you again," Scott agreed with a small smile. "Maybe I'll do it more often in the future."

While everyone else was getting the once-over from Hank, Jubilee had left Kate to her bamfs and snack food to make her way up to the bridge to check on Noh, who was clearly taking the whole debacle as a personal insult for being caught by Imperial Shi'ar. He was deeply settled into a bit of a glare when she found him, trying to look like his focus was on flying and not on pouting.

She slid up next to him just to rest her hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?" she asked quietly.

He shrugged lightly, still frowning a bit. "I am fine," he promised. Then, when she just gave him a bit of a look, he added, "I am sturdier than our other friends."

"You're still bleeding, Mr. Sturdy," she observed as she slipped both hands down his shoulders from behind. "You should let Hank take a peek."

He shrugged again, but the frown had only deepened at the suggestion. "I simply reopened an injury from our capture while we were fighting. It will heal. I'd rather focus on getting our friends home fast and safe."

"Yeah, well. I'd rather I didn't accidentally open it later," she teased as she leaned over his shoulder to kiss his ear.

He couldn't help but pause and start to smile at her. "I wouldn't let you cause me injury," he promised.

But she'd just started kissing his neck and muttering 'please' out very quietly as she went.

He let out a long sigh at last as it was clear she wasn't going to relent. "Do you want me to have him sign a bill of health to make you feel better?" he asked in his best attempt at a tease.

She bit her lip and grinned at him. "If you think you could talk him into promising me that you are perfectly fit for certain activities?"

He turned to kiss her properly. "I think I can make that promise on my own."

"I'll put you through your paces." She was only half warning him.

"Then why wait for a doctor's permission?" he asked with a wider teasing grin.

"It's not his _permission_ I'm after," she giggled. "It's just a tiny bit of peace of mind. Sturdy and tough as you are. I know how you tough guys are deep down."

He smirked at her for a moment and shook his head, though he didn't look all that pleased about it as he sighed out, "If it will ease your mind, I will go. I will even, if I have to, eat one of those strange things you call food."

"Oooh, then I really can call you sugar lips," she replied with one eyebrow raised. "It'll be _fun._ "

"This is a much more preferable nickname to Bug Boy," he agreed, smirking with one eyebrow raised.

"He'll get more creative the more he gets to know you," Jubilee promised.

Noh stood up out of his chair to scoop Jubes up in his arms. "Well," he said with a teasing grin down at her as he just started to carry her toward Hank's setup. "I am so obviously weakened. Let us go see your doctor."

He carried her that way all the way down to the medical wing, where he gently let her down and turned to Hank with a bit of a wary expression.

"Noh-Varr," Hank said as he half glared at him over the top of his half moon glasses. "I thought you were staying away from Earth. How is that possible if you've been toying with our dear Jubilation?"

Noh frowned and couldn't quite meet Hank's glare. "I admit I haven't been staying from Earth," he said sheepishly.

"Oh, knock it off, Blue," Jubilee said as she crossed the room and batted at his arm. "He's a good guy. I checked. Twice."

"Jubilee, I did not bend over backwards and pull in every brainiac I knew to cure you of your vampirism just so you could go galavanting about with space riff raff."

"No, you did it so I could be happy, right?" Jubilee challenged with her arms crossed over her chest. "You know. And not do the whole lurking in the darkness and eating people thing." She looked between the two of them and rolled her eyes theatrically. "Okay. So. He was young and stupid. Look. He looks like a guilty kicked puppy. Use your super sniffer to tell me if he's lying about being sorry for being stupid."

Hank narrowed her eyes at her for a moment and a low growl slipped by him before he glared up at Noh. "The incident with the Avengers?" He was just growling openly as he said it.

"It was the worst mistake of my life," Noh said sincerely, forcing himself to meet Hank's gaze. "I've been trying to make up for it ever since."

Hank took a moment to consider him. "Then I'll have to simply shift my threat to if you break her heart … "

"That's fair," Noh agreed quickly, though it was obvious he was relieved. "I promise - I won't."

"Oh my God, you two are just ridiculous," Jubilee said as she pulled at Noh to get him closer to the nearly inaudibly growling Hank. "He needs a check up, Blue."

"Yes," Noh agreed, trying for a little smile. "I've been ordered to be poked and prodded and perhaps even to eat one of those Twinkies."

"Unless there is reason, there shall be no poking or prodding from me," Hank promised before he took a few long, deep breaths. "However, the unhealthy confections? Well. We all need to live a little." He gave Noh a subdued smile and quickly went about looking him over, diving into Noh's supplies and medications with a practiced hand and a familiar ease as he fussed more than anything else to clean his wounds up a bit, clearly to humor Jubilee, though he was frowning by the time he was partway through cleaning Noh's chest injury.

"It really goes to say something that out of the entire population of this vessel, yours are truly the only injuries that actually could use a bit of a helping touch," Hank said calmly over the edge of his glasses.

"Ha!" Jubes said, pointing Noh's way. "Vindicated."

Noh just looked her way pointedly. "I will heal. Kree are sturdy, and my genetic makeup doesn't dispose me to injury as much."

"Indeed, you certainly will," Hank agreed with a nod. "But you know as well as I that much of the Shi'ar weaponry is designed to do lasting damage to Kree." He looked up at Noh and took in a deep breath. "But yes, you'll heal rather quickly with a bit of food to speed you along."

"The others will need food as well," Noh said, trying to shift the topic.

"They are already partaking," Hank replied. "I am simply asking you to join them. Consider it social bonding."

"Then I will as soon as I have found the Shi'ar signal I missed before. I do not want to be taken by surprise again when we are all so tired," Noh said, starting to stand. "Thank you for your time."

Jubilee let out a sigh before she kissed Henry's cheek. "Thanks for trying, Blue. I guess I'll go take the easier mark and try to snuggle on Wolvie. Or at least make sure he gets taken care of too."

"I thought ... with a clean bill of health…" Noh tilted his head her way.

"I just want to see you whole and healed," Jubilee replied. "If you're going to be stubborn about it, I'll see if I can hear how the heck Logan lived _this_ time." She popped up on her toes to kiss his cheek and just slipped past him on her way out, and before Noh could move forward himself, Hank put a hand in the center of his chest to stop him. For a moment, Noh looked like he might flinch, but Hank looked more concerned than angry this time.

"I understand you're trying to right the wrong that was done to the five of you," Hank said gently. "But Jubilee is, among a great many other things, one who likes to _know_ that those around her are to their best health." He took a moment longer to ask one more question. "Would I be too far off if I were to assume that she was a bit more than simply upset when Logan didn't get up right away?"

Noh raised both eyebrows and simply nodded 'yes.' "She very nearly broke free after our capture in an attempt to get to him," he said, sounding proud.

"There are few that our Jubilation gives that level of concern to, and I won't say that I am not concerned that she's decided to give you a similar standing," Hank told him. "However, she doesn't pester Logan about it because she knows the boundaries of his abilities. Or she thinks she does. She does not know yours, and the only healing ability she can use as a measure — is Logan's."

Noh frowned thoughtfully before he nodded. "Yes, I see," he said carefully. "And mine is nothing like Wolverine's."

"I'm not sure that you do see this one, young man," Hank replied with a little crooked smile. "But one can only hope that you do sooner rather than later. Or, as your friends might try to say in more layman's terms, extricate your cranium from your posterior."

Noh had to smile at that. "Yes, I have heard that phrase before. Though ... less eloquently worded." He shook his head and took a breath before he almost cautiously and shyly gestured for the door. "I take it I am your last patient, right? So why don't you join us as well?"

"I'd be delighted," Hank replied with a kind smile. "It's not often that I am the one that needs to dig deeper and reconsider someone. I sincerely hope that you do not let me down again. I'm afraid I will not give another second chance."

Noh looked entirely serious as he met Hank's gaze. "I won't need another second chance," he promised. "I have absolutely no intention of betraying your trust or hers — or anyone else's, for that matter."

"Then perhaps it's time we re-joined our friends," Hank said as he handed Noh a Twinkie.


	9. Overly Concerned Loved One

Notes from CC: Well. I could ask for a few things. I'm a lil' greedy when it comes to my boy, but. There we are. Glad you're still there, PLEASE take this chapter and enjoy it.

Notes from robbie: *grins* Well, now that we've assembled everyone (*gigglesnort*) it's time to have more space adventures, don't you think? Thanks for sticking around; you know there will be more Wolvie snuggles, battles, and general hilarity!

* * *

 **Chapter Nine: Overly Concerned Loved One**

* * *

After a decent meal, the little group on Noh's ship was in much better spirits as Billy and Teddy tried to catch Kate up on what she had missed with their friends in the days she had been gone — particularly a viral video of her first interview with Jameson that had been autotuned to hilarious effect by someone with a screenhandle 'friendlyneighborhoodspidey'. The video had everyone in stitches, as JJ's shouting was _even funnier_ when put to music, and the bamfs stole Kate's phone to watch it repeatedly even after Kate and Kurt had turned in to catch a nap on the way to the blackbird.

Logan had found a quiet corner to settle into and rest while Jubilee finally just gave him a very quick kiss on the cheek to rush over to basically climb on Noh's lap as soon as he came back from Hank's so she could listen to him tell her stories about his other journeys and battles against the Shi'ar across several dimensions.

Once they arrived at the blackbird, the group had a quick meeting to try and figure out who would go home in what craft. The Young Avengers were torn between the familiarity of traveling in Noh's ship again and the pure excitement of flying in the blackbird with so many of the original X-Men.

What eventually decided it was Noh's promise that his ship had a 'silent' mode that would let them sleep without interruptions short of an attack on the ship — and those that had been captured, along with Logan, decided to stay on the ship and get some decent sleep while the Young Avengers would head back with Scott and Hank.

But as they were boarding the blackbird and saying their goodbyes, the proximity alarms went off, signalling that they had unexpected company. Noh ran to the controls and let out a string of oaths that Jubilee was quickly coming to recognize before he just shook his head. "I'm sorry, my friends. This is going to be more trouble."

"How are you feeling, Logan?" Scott called out. "Did you have enough time to recover?"

Logan just nodded, though he visibly looked ready to sleep for a few days still. "Jubes, you get enough sugar?" he asked, and she enthusiastically nodded and popped a fresh piece of gum in her mouth. "Then we're about as good as we can hope for," Logan called out to Scott, though he looked up at Noh for a moment. "You okay?"

"I have passed through the judgement of your resident doctor, so I would hope so," Noh said with a small smirk.

"Yeah, but you know yourself better than he ever will," Logan pointed out.

Noh just laughed quietly to himself as he settled into the controls. "I am healing well — thank you for your concern. Now if we can simply shake this latest danger, I think I would like to stop on Earth for a pancake dinner when we are through."

"Hear that, Wolvie?" Jubilee said brightly. "Canada here we come!"

Logan just rolled his eyes at her and started to stretch.

"Cyclops, if you could give me some support in your craft," Noh suggested. "Perhaps we two could blast them out of the air."

"You sure you don't want to try talking with them first?" Kate asked as she looked over the readings over his shoulder. "That's a Kree ship."

"No, I am quite sure they will not want to talk with us," Noh said with a little frown. "That is an Accuser craft."

"They've been reasonable enough in passing," Scott said with a frown to match Noh's, though he was rushing toward the blackbird anyhow.

But before Scott could reach the connecting passage, a hit rocked the ship, and the passage exploded - along with the blackbird. The explosion tilted the entire ship sideways, and Noh had to struggle for control for a moment as they were thrown clear, though the ship caught much of the debris from the exploding blackbird in the process.

"Go, Noh!" Scott bellowed from the floor.

Noh pushed the engines as hard as he could in response, not even trying the maneuvers he had done with the Shi'ar to try and return fire as much as he was just trying to outrun the Accusers. "I did warn you," he called to the others as he did so.

"And I was trying to get there to help you fight!" Scott called to him in return, still a bit in shock at losing his plane.

"Good thing you're runnin' a little slow these days," Logan teased as he offered Scott a hand up.

"Never been so glad to be out of practice," Scott countered, shaking his head slowly.

As the Kree craft pursued them, Noh put some of his best moves into practice, the engines screaming as he just did his level best to avoid being shot down again. But for as impressive as his moves were, the Accusers' craft was faster, and Noh let out a string of swears again when a glancing blow knocked them far off course and into a spin.

Once the ship was righted, Noh flew them in a new direction, trying to shake their pursuers, but another hit took out the shields, and Noh glanced over his shoulder at the others, knowing they couldn't take another hit or they would end up like the blackbird. He brought the ship to a stop and turned to the group with a little frown.

"You should know — it's likely they're here for me, not you," he said quickly. "You do not need to endanger yourselves."

"Why in the world are they after you?" Hank half-demanded. "I thought you did what they wanted."

Noh just looked toward Hank for a moment with his lips pursed before he said, simply, "I did, and then I tried to fix that. They disagreed with my attempt to right my wrongs."

"It doesn't matter — you're with us, and we're not leaving you behind," Scott said, with the rest of the X-Men nodding in agreement. "We don't answer to the Accusers."

"Besides," America said, crossing her arms with a smirk. "Since when have you ever known us to back down from a good fight?"

The ship shuddered a bit to the side as the Accusers' craft latched on, and Noh nodded his thanks to the group of them before he broke into a small smile. "Kree are not so easy to kill as Shi'ar, my friends. This will be a bit more strenuous of a fight."

Logan and Scott smirked at each other. "Don't worry," Logan said. "We'll manage." He looked up at Scott for a moment. "Looks like we're goin' for as many different aliens as possible on this run."

"It's almost like you did this on purpose to see if I could still handle it," Scott said, the smirk stretching a bit wider.

"If I did that, we'd probably have Magneto and Sinister in the middle of it too," Logan teased. "Who needs the Danger Room when you got half the galaxy?"

"If you like, I can play the part of my grumpy grampa and threaten to take over the world," Tommy offered. "If you really want the full rogue's gallery."

"How about you just play 'hit the bad guys before I hit you'?" America said, shaking her head at Tommy when he darted out of the way of the slap upside the head she had aimed at him.

"I can do that too," Tommy agreed, zipping over to where the Accusers had latched on so that he would be right there to start the hitting.

The moment the Kree started to board Noh's ship, the Young Avengers and X-Men burst into action. Tommy made good on his promise and bounded right into the first Kree he saw, but he didn't look like he was ready to stop and instead just started to vibrate until he ran right through the connecting port and into the other ship, passing straight through everything in his path.

"That _chico_ is going to get himself killed," America said through gritted teeth before she and Billy and Teddy tried to muscle their way through after him even as the Accusers were already starting to flood the corridor with Kree, while the X-Men kept their focus on the Accusers inside the ship itself.

"I'm going to sleep for a _week_ when we're done here," Kate said tiredly as she pulled out her bow and grinned over at Kurt.

"If you are tiring, I can help you," Kurt replied with a little smile, and she punched him lightly in the shoulder.

"I can handle these losers. I'm more concerned about being too tired for other things _later_ ," she said, loud enough for Scott and Beast nearby to hear.

"Yes, that would be a shame," Kurt agreed.

"I thought Logan was joking about how _constant_ you two are," Scott said with a little frown Kurt's way. He took just a moment to blast an Accuser back several paces before he just tipped his head the slightest bit as a small smirk started. "I didn't have you pegged for a younger girl."

"Oh, don't worry. I make sure to tease him regularly about the old days before they invented cars," Kate said with a wide smile. "I keep him in constant old man jokes."

"Kurt or Logan?" Scott countered with a smirk.

"Both. Clearly. Like I'd let either of them get off clean," Kate said as she shot an acid arrow through a Kree helmet.

Meanwhile, Logan and Jubilee were blowing bits of Kree off and slicing through them — hitting spots that were vital with every blow and cutting into organs that simply were not going to heal fast even with the proper rest and support.

They were only getting warmed up, though, and after the first two or three were crippled in front of them, they split up to dole out their damage — Jubilee blinding them more often than not and Logan just flat lopping off heads if they got too close.

Noh watched the display with a slight frown. "I don't recall telling you any of these methods of fighting my people," he said to Jubilee.

"You didn't have to, sweetheart," Jubilee replied. "Wolvie is a really thorough teacher."

Noh looked over at Logan for a moment with a long frown. "I would be more concerned if I was not grateful to have you on my side in this fight." He shook his head and just went back to fighting the Accusers, though now with half an eye on Jubilee.

"It's basic self-defense," Jubilee told him seriously as she landed a backward hook kick to one Kree's throat before blasting him backwards. "He wanted to make sure I was prepared for anything." She shot him a little grin and then went right to blowing bubbles as she shot plasmoids at her attackers.

Noh just shook his head at them both for a moment before they heard a chanting in the air beside them: " _Backtotheship, backtotheship, backtotheship._ " Billy appeared just behind Noh, half-supporting a fairly bloodied Teddy and looking downright distressed. "Darnit! That was _supposed_ to take all of us!"

"Who's left?" Scott called out just before he blasted an Accuser backward two lengths.

"My brother and America. I'm not so worried about her, but Tommy was in trouble."

Scott gave Logan a hard look, and as soon as Logan realized it and looked up at him, he jammed his claws through the Accuser that was trying to push him back and just drew them down to the guy's waist before he kicked him backward, nodded once, before he took off running alongside Scott.

When they had pushed their way through the connecting passage between the two ships, they saw clearly what the problem was as Tommy was sitting on the ground and holding one badly bleeding leg that was clearly broken, and America was just standing over him and punching through anyone that got close to the two of them.

The two X-Men didn't bother asking any questions before they both just dove in, Scott blasting and Logan slashing and rending limbs until the Accusers were backed up enough for Scott to yell for Logan to get the kid out. America stepped up to fill the gap for Logan as he rushed back to pick up Tommy - when an Accuser managed to break past America's defenses and leveled both weapons at Logan and Tommy — clearly aiming for headshots.

"Look out!" Scott called out before he blasted the guy and then dove in to try and give the group of them better cover. He had just shot a sizeable hole in the Accuser who had been about to hit Logan and Tommy when another four came barrelling forward as well.

America ran to give him cover, but he shouted for her to get Logan and Tommy to the other ship as he started to blast through the incoming Kree — and to his credit, he was doing far better than last time, when it had been his first mission out. But the Accusers had each come from different directions, and it was simply impossible to watch all the angles. Scott's vision went suddenly bright white as he took a bad pistol whipping from behind and went sprawling, his head protesting every movement.

"Scott! Are you alright?" Logan called out.

"Mmfine," was the response from the floor.

"You're a shitty liar, Summers," Logan half growled before he turned to America. "Hey, super strong — get over here and haul him over."

America just nodded and half-flung Tommy over her shoulder so that she had one hand free still to punch people. "If you start seeing Kree bits floating in space it's because I had to kick 'em," she explained.

"Then kick 'em," Logan growled before he rushed back toward Scott, who had totally abandoned using his ability in favor of hand to hand combat. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Logan half barked, clearly exasperated. "Blast 'em, Cyke!"

"I would if I could!" Scott shouted back.

"Then run, damnit," Logan rumbled. "I'll finish up here."

"You need backup," Scott insisted.

"Then send someone over that can help!" Logan shouted.

"They're all busy!" Scott replied. "You'll just have to settle for me."

Logan didn't reply but to double down his efforts to kill every Kree that got too close — both to him and Scott. Scott had just turned his way to tell him that he could _handle this_ when instead he broke off into "Look out!" when he saw the Accuser approaching behind Logan with a sword with the telltale sheen of carbonadium.

The Accuser lunged before Scott had fully gotten it out, and although Logan managed to dodge a bit to one side, the sword pierced him through the ribs. When the Accuser tried to twist the blade, however, it snapped off, trapped between two Adamantium ribs.

Almost immediately, the blood began to flow from the wounds that hadn't closed yet — and they simply weren't going to.

Logan reached for his comm and held down the button just long enough to rasp out 'Elf' before Scott stepped forward to fight the Kree that had been holding the sword, trying for an optic blast to destroy the offending Accuser and shouting out in frustration when he got nothing but a fizzle of reddish energy instead. As he simply had to start fighting the guy hand to hand, Kurt teleported into the battle and took one look at Logan before he simply put a hand on Logan's shoulder and teleported them both back out — returning a few moments later for Scott.

Noh in the meantime had Billy and Jubilee work together on a grenade to toss into the Accuser's craft once Scott and Logan were out of it, and it blew as soon as it hit the interior. And with Kate at the controls, they were off before the Accusers could gather themselves.

"Get Hank," Scott said to Kurt as soon as they were clear. "Get Hank — the sword was carbonadium." He had crouched down by Logan to half hold him up to get a better look at the injury. "Get Hank."

Kurt didn't hesitate to move — though instead of bringing Hank to Logan, he simply teleported all three of them to the medical wing before he also started to look Logan over. "What happened?" he asked Scott, who was looking more and more upset.

"The sword broke off between his ribs," Scott said shortly before he looked up when Hank arrived. "It's carbonadium. We have to get it out of him," he explained in a rush.

"I see," Henry said, trying not to say or do anything that might upset Scott further. "If you wouldn't mind, perhaps you could hand me some painkillers for him in the meantime. Normally they're worthless, but if they'll do him some good, I'd rather we did it while we can."

"Of course," Scott said quickly and ran to grab what Hank needed. "If it'll help, we can bring Noh here. He knows what equipment his ship is stocked with."

"I can read Kree perfectly fine, Mr. Summers," Hank said as he quickly drew up a measure of something and gave Logan a quick shot - which only seemed to make the little feral's eyes roll in his head and get him more relaxed than before. "But if it makes you feel better, by all means."

"Kurt — can you get Noh in here?" Scott said, turning to Kurt.

"Of course," Kurt said with a little frown and a second glance Logan's way before he teleported up to the bridge where he was sure he'd find Noh. He blinked a few times as he watched Kate fly before he turned to Noh. "Do you have a moment to spare? Scott is a bit overly concerned over his loved one."

Kate snorted very loudly from the pilot's chair, and Noh shot her a quizzical look before he turned to Kurt. "I can help, if you need it, of course."

"Hopefully, it will only take a moment," Kurt said before he offered Noh a hand and teleported them right next to Hank.

Noh took one look at the scene and just hurried to help. "What is it you need — and I will supply you with it."

"A scanner," Hank said. "The blade was of a slightly radioactive material that doesn't complement Logan's system. It is brittle, and I need to be sure that when I remove the blade — there are no shards left behind."

Noh nodded and crossed the room to pull down a few holographic screens that looked like an inventory before he seemed to toss something across the way — and a screen skidded to a stop over Logan. "This will give you the readouts," he explained as he then came over to pull down a scanner for Hank to use. "I've configured it for English for your convenience." As he said it, a couple bamfs teleported in to investigate all the excitement and curiously peered at the screens, chattering among themselves in worried tones.

"Thank you," Hank said as he adjusted his glasses and started looking it over quickly. "That will certainly speed things along"

He took his time, though Scott looked more and more impatient with each passing second until Hank looked over his glasses at Scott to stop fidgeting. When he instead stepped back and started pacing, Hank glanced at Kurt and then went back to work until—

"Oh dear," he said quietly, getting Scott to stop in his tracks. "Noh-Varr, how steady are your hands? I fear that our dear friends Mr. Summers and Mr. Wagner might be a bit too close to this situation."

"I have been trained in multiple field medicines," Noh offered. "What can I do to help?"

Hank tipped his head toward the screen. "As you can see, in addition to the blade, there are several shards that should be removed first. We won't need a surgical suite if we can get _all_ of it out. He'll simply heal on his own before we could remove the retractors." He paused and tried to lower his voice after a heavy sigh. "However, if we don't get it all before we remove the blade, I don't believe your ship is fast enough to get us to familiar surgical territory. The same can be said if the tip of the sword is no longer attached."

Noh looked over the readings for a good, long time as he considered his answer. "I believe the two of us can manage this," he said slowly. "If anything, my scanners will pick up the smaller pieces more easily than most you would find on Earth."

"What happens if the tip of the sword isn't attached?" Scott asked, and Kurt kind of glared at him a bit as he crossed his arms, his tail switching irritably behind him.

"Then we'll have to go to Plan B," Hank said with an irritated shake of his head.

"From your tone, I would suggest we not switch to Plan B if at all possible," Noh said.

"To be honest," Henry admitted, "both plans rely on his healing factor to simply kick in."

Noh looked up at the three X-Men in the room. "Should I request that Wiccan speed us along to Earth?" he offered.

"I don't know that he has it in him," Scott said frankly.

"Then we'll keep Ms. America in reserve to transport us there more quickly if need be," Noh said as he helped Hank to prep.

"If you need help to balance him while you work, I'm happy to help," Kurt said in a very calm tone. Henry waved him closer as Noh grabbed the last of the tools they would need and Scott went back to pacing.

"Mr. Summers, if you can't stop that, I'll have Kurt teleport you somewhere hard to get out of," Hank said distractedly.

"I have brig facilities if need be," Noh said without looking up from Logan.

Kurt tried very hard not to smile but failed miserably and simply settled for not laughing outright as Scott looked more irritated and simply found a place to sit down and wait.

As Kurt was careful to balance his friend and hold one of the retractors, Noh and Hank worked quickly to dig out the shards while trying to keep the wound clear enough to see them. They checked the scan closely to be sure the shards were all missing before Hank very carefully and very slowly removed the broken off blade and inspected it thoroughly even as the bleeding slowed and the smaller wounds seemed to start closing up.

"I do believe we've done it, gentlemen," Hank said as he dropped the blade with a clang onto a nearby tray.

At that, Scott got up from his seat and took a look for himself, just long enough to see the wounds starting to heal, and then nodded sharply and turned on his heel to just ... leave.

It was testament to how much they thought of Scott that they waited to be reasonably sure he was out of earshot before Hank and Kurt simply burst out laughing, with Noh close behind them with slightly more subdued chuckles. They laughed until they had tears streaming from their eyes, and Hank had to hold himself partly upright as the giggles finally ebbed.

"He should be fine," Hank said. "After he sleeps it off, of course. It likely wouldn't have been so bad had he not already worn himself half out."

"It's a fine prescription for all of us," Noh suggested. "I do believe three battles in about the course of one day may be far more than even X-Men should try and take on."

"Indeed," Hank agreed before he turned to Kurt. "Do you suppose Scott would like to carry him to his room and tuck him in?"

Kurt laughed outright at that. "Perhaps if you didn't word it like that, I'm sure we could talk him into making sure he was safely secure in bed."

"Something a bit more heroic then, shall we?"

Kurt just laughed harder. "And without any hint of affection, of course."

"Naturally," Hank agreed. "Perhaps we can tell him you were too overcome with emotion to do it yourself?" He grinned Kurt's way. "Of course, we will neglect to tell him that it was amusement that overcame you."

"We'll spare the details," Kurt agreed, still chuckling.


	10. You Can Lead A Wolverine To Water

**Notes from the authors: Yes, Scotty is just so adorable when he's concerned over his stabby friend. (But oh, heaven help us if you ever try to get him to ADMIT it.) So glad that you guys are still sticking around for our nonsense. We're just having way too much fun over here :D**

* * *

 **Chapter Ten: You Can Lead a Wolverine to Water**

* * *

For at least the first day of the rest of the trip, the entirety of Noh's ship was more or less quiet as the whole group just tried to rest from the exhausting ordeal they'd been through — though the Young Avengers were certainly faster to bounce back, since they hadn't been captured or nearly killed or anything of the sort. They had taken over flying Noh's ship from experience so Jubilee could wrestle Noh into actually getting some rest and taking care of himself too, so it was fairly quiet everywhere but the bridge.

Kate and Kurt spent an absurd amount of time waking up after they had more or less collapsed together and slept for the better part of the entire day, but eventually, the promise of food and coffee got them down to the dining area, where Kurt suggested that Kate bring an extra cup down to Logan to get him up and moving as well.

So that was how Kate found herself down in the medical wing of Noh's ship, still very tired and only on her first cup of coffee herself — though definitely still awake enough to bring a bottle of water tucked in the crook of her arm in addition to the two cups of coffee she'd brought for herself and Logan to see if he'd rise to the bait.

She slid into the room and set the drinks down before she crossed over to where he was still sleeping. "Rise and shine, sleepyhead. I brought you something to drink, and then we'll go get some food in you," she told him as she gently prodded his arm. "C'mon, Sleeping Beauty. I'm not kissing you awake."

He cracked one eye open and half picked his head up before he held his hand out for whatever she'd brought to drink.

She slapped the water bottle into his open hand first with a little grin and decided not to tease him until after he'd finished it, which to her surprise he managed in one go before he tossed it across the room and held his hand out again.

She grinned and grabbed the coffee cup and then saluted him with her own. "Whatdya know. You _can_ lead a wolverine to water and make him drink."

"Major blood loss, have to restore fluids, ya nutjob," he replied as he rolled half on his side and propped himself up so as not to burn himself. "Is this all you brought?"

"Well, you can have what's left of mine if you're desperate? But I thought I'd take you up for some food. There's omelets and pancakes and sausages and stuff for our very, very late breakfast."

"Clean shirt?" he asked, his eyes still closed as he nearly gulped the scalding hot coffee.

She watched him for a moment in surprise. She'd seen him healing from Sinister before, but this seemed pretty… extreme, if the other, older X-Men's reactions had been anything to go by. She'd have to get used to it, she supposed — but she didn't think she ever would. "Yeah, there's one over here — hold on." She looked in the drawer close by to find the tee shirt folded in there that Kurt had been sure to tell her about and tossed it his way.

By the time she'd done that, he'd finished his coffee and just quickly pulled it over his head before scrubbing his hands over his face. "Okay," he said quietly. "Take me there."

She pulled him to his feet and threaded her arm through his. "Attaboy, Wolverine. We'll get you back to your huggable, loveable self in no time."

"I am _not_ huggable and loveable," he replied.

"You just go right ahead and live in denial," she teased him. "We all know the truth."

"If that was true—" He paused and just shook his head. "You know what, forget it. I'm too tired to argue right now."

She stopped and turned toward him to give him a nice, warm hug before she pressed her coffee into his hand. "Here. I'll get more when we get there."

He knew she took her coffee a lot sweeter than he did and he glanced down at it for just a moment before downing it anyhow. "Caffeine doesn't do a damn thing for me; you know that, right?"

"Well, you said you needed fluids," Kate said matter-of-factly.

"I do," he agreed. "And food. And sleep."

"We will get you all of those things. High protein breakfast is just thirty feet down this hall right here," she promised him. She grinned his way. "You dodged a bullet, you know. The bamfs wanted to come, but Kurt told them you might turn them into a hat if they did."

"Boots," he corrected. "Told 'em I'd turn them into boots."

She just laughed as she opened the door to the dining area. "They were very concerned about you. One of them kept popping in to double check that you were breathing. It's too cute for words."

He made a dismissive sound and looked a bit uncomfortable as he tried to blow it off. "They worry too much."

"You got _demons_ worried, Logan." She raised an eyebrow at him.

"They don't want me takin' over Hell, that's all."

"Wrong direction, stupid."

"You're young. I've got it on pretty damn good authority that I'm right."

She rolled her eyes dramatically. "There is no better authority than me ever, and if you just accept that I'm always right, your life will be so much easier."

He covered her hand on his arm with his and gave her as close to a smile as he was able. "Darlin', if that were true even a little — it'd ease my mind."

She just grinned and leaned over to kiss his scruffy cheek. "Good thing it's true," she told him with a genuine, warm smile before she tipped her head at the breakfast waiting for them. " _Bon appetite_ , Wolverine."

As soon as Kate let go of Logan's arm, Jubilee stepped in and pulled him over to the spot next to her where she could talk his ear off and watch over him as she liked to do, and it was clear pretty quickly that he _must_ have enjoyed it, because he didn't give her a hard time at all as she kept pouring him more coffee and making sure he was eating right when she wasn't leaned against his shoulder.

Kate sat down on the opposite side of the table next to Kurt as started to absently tickle the bamf that crawled up next to her to steal food from her plate when she wasn't looking just so that she would catch him and tickle him again. The other bamfs were very cautiously trying to approach Logan without getting close enough to risk being turned into boots, and Kate had to laugh as she slipped an arm around Kurt's middle once she was sitting beside him. "A whole water bottle," she whispered to him. "And if you'd _told_ me he was this easy when he's like this, I could have brought, like, a gallon."

"And he would have drank every drop and looked at you as if you were holding out on him," Kurt said with a nod. "He's a bit dehydrated."

" _You_ were holding out on me. Not telling me about the advantage to be taken here," she teased.

"He can also be a bit … moody like this, though, so it's best _not_ to try and take advantage in case you catch him wrong," Kurt advised.

"Also something I wish I'd known," Kate said with a smirk. "No worries — he's still a giant hug magnet this morning."

"Which is why I sent you instead of Jubilee. She would have just climbed into bed with him and snuggled."

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea," she said as she leaned against his side. "Snuggling. With a fuzzy Elf. I think I like the idea."

"You two totally need to go back to your room," Jubilee said as she refilled all of their coffee mugs.

"I still can't believe Logan wasn't exaggerating about you two," Scott said as he joined them at the table, tipping his head at Kate and Kurt. "I thought he was just teasing about how… joined at the hip you are."

Logan just snorted a little at that but kept what Kate was _sure_ was a wicked zinger to himself. For once.

Kate just looked Logan's way for a moment before she let a wicked grin cross her features and scooted in closer to Kurt until she was practically in his lap as she asked Scott, "Are we making you uncomfortable?" in as innocent a tone as she could manage.

Scott just smirked a little wider. "You'll have to try a lot harder than that," Scott said.

Kate turned to Kurt. "Hear that? That sounded like a challenge," she all but purred at him before she stole a kiss.

"Still. Nowhere near a blip on the screen," Scott said shaking his head. "I had to watch Remy and Rogue for years, and there was that month or so that I had to keep an eye on Boom Boom when she was ... " He paused and looked Logan's way before he shook his head. "Acting like a total idiot."

Kate sighed and just adjusted herself so she was more properly in Kurt's lap. "Well then I expect no more complaints about us ever. Since we're not even a blip," she said in a very business-like tone.

"For the record," Scott said. "I wasn't complaining. I was just … surprised. But you're good together."

"I tend to agree," Kurt said with a little smile as he wrapped his tail around Kate's waist and snuck another kiss.

Henry was next to join the little group, and he was sure to sit on Logan's side opposite Jubilee. When the furry blue doctor sat down, Logan moved his coffee out of the way and simply allowed Hank to take his wrist, which, apparently, was something that Hank tended to do — check his pulse after such a 'weekend'. Hank just nodded to himself before he relaxed.

"Better. More fluids," he said, and Logan just nodded and tipped up his mug again.

"See?" Kate said to Kurt. " _He_ knew about the water jug possibilities too."

"He's the doctor," Kurt defended. "And besides, you can't give him only water, or he won't eat."

"Still. I had a perfect window and didn't even know it. You're going to have to make it up to me," she informed him as she tapped his chest.

"You'll have another window," Logan promised quietly.

"Are you really planning on getting that beat down again already?" Scott asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"Planning? No," Logan said. "Just ... seems to happen."

"More often than necessary," Scott added half under his breath, but naturally, Logan heard it and just half glared at him for it.

"Lay off, Cyke," Logan rumbled. "Not like it really makes that much of a difference."

"As Jubilee has told me multiple times in the last day or so — it does," Noh said quietly, looking at Jubilee as he said it and clearly trying to prove he was trying to listen to her. "At least to those that worry no matter the capacity to heal."

Jubilee grinned up at him and leaned away from Logan to kiss Noh on the cheek before she turned her attention back to the other X-Men. "Both of you can just zip it now," Jubilee said, looking between Logan and Scott. "That would be perfect."

A good amount of time passed before Logan frowned and turned to his left to watch Jubilee and Noh for a moment. "Why were the Kree chasing you again? You steal someone's little red wagon?"

"I stole a little more than a red wagon," Noh said with a raised eyebrow Logan's way before he took a deep breath and let it all out at once. "It was a part of the Phoenix Force, actually." He glanced toward Hank as he added, "My people had no business wielding it — or trying to."

"No one has any business wielding it," Scott said with a bit of heat. "And I don't care how advanced they think their race is." The gathered X-Men all nodded in agreement but remained silent, half watching Scott and Noh.

"I assure you — you don't need to worry about that with the Kree anymore," Noh tried to reassure him.

"I'm not _worried_ ," Scott defended with a bit of a glare — though it was hard to see through the ruby quartz that seemed to glow a bit brighter all at once. "It corrupts everything it infects."

Noh glanced at Scott for a moment before he just sighed and looked down at his hands. "Yes. Well. I do not know what happened to it after the Avengers took it back."

"No sense worrying about it. It'll come back," Logan said with a sigh. "It always comes back. Just gotta hope whoever ends up with it knows what they're doing and can handle it."

"We've had ... extensive experience with the Phoenix," Hank said to Noh, watching the Kree fighter's reaction carefully. "It decided to take up residence in one of our own, and eventually destroyed her." He gestured to Scott. "His first love."

Noh looked up in surprise at Scott and then shook his head. "I am truly sorry to hear it," he said honestly. "Even my short encounter with it was ... extremely unpleasant for all involved." He glanced toward Hank for a moment and then back down at his hands.

Scott nodded, took a deep breath and expanded on Hank's abbreviated explanation. "It was an on again off again problem for years that only had one answer. Repeatedly." He half glared Logan's way for a moment but dropped it quickly. "It's … taken over several of us at least once. In one dimension or another."

"For that I'm sorry as well," Noh said with a serious frown. "To do things — and know it is not _you_ doing them — no matter the situation, it is not an easy thing to get past."

At that, all of the X-Men gathered looked pointedly at Scott, hoping that the message was sinking in, but Scott of course missed it entirely and shortly excused himself.

Once Scott was gone, Kurt leaned partway across the table to tell Noh more. "The Phoenix was using several X-Men at once as hosts not too long ago, and during that short time, Scott killed Charles Xavier." Logan made a face and shook his head slow before he crossed his arms.

Noh looked between the X-Men with a deep frown. "I'm sorry to hear that. Professor Xavier was a driving force behind my decision to become a protector of Earth," he said quietly.

"He did that for a lot of people," Logan replied through gritted teeth.

"It's one of the few good memories I have of the Cube," Noh told him. "And so I choose to remember that. But perhaps that is my temporal training. 'Should haves' have no place." He smirked the slightest bit. "Or at least, that is the creed I _try_ to live by."

"Right. So is that all? You took back a piece of the Phoenix and the Kree got their panties wadded?" Logan asked.

Noh looked around the table for a long moment before he just let it go. "Ah. Well. I neglected to mention that I was the one who captured the Phoenix force, with the Avengers, and then broke from them and took it to the Kree in the first place." He said it very quietly and kept glancing toward Hank. "Thankfully, the Kree did not have it long before the Avengers took it back to Earth."

"So what did they do to make you change your mind — the lie?" Logan shook his head. " I guess I don't understand why after all _that,_ SHIELD was still after you. You gave SHIELD and the Avengers the damn Phoenix — which was a terrible idea, by the way. Remind me to fix that when we get back."

Noh still looked down at his hands. "I should… I should try to explain. The Supreme Intelligence asked me to get the Phoenix Force for use in defending Earth — and I believed it. And in my attempt to get it to Hala, I betrayed the Avengers and left them to fall into a sun." He looked up at Logan. "When I discovered that my people never intended to use it to help Earth, I did what I could to rectify my mistake. I defied the Supremor and took back the Phoenix force before the Avengers arrived... but I could hardly blame the Avengers or SHIELD or anyone else for not trusting me after such a betrayal."

"You were how old again, when the Kree lied to you and tried to use you and your alliances for their own interests?" Logan asked.

"Old enough to make my own decisions," Noh said almost defensively.

"Clearly you weren't," Logan countered. "If the Avengers left you behind to deal with them without knowing what the story was, they screwed you over just as bad as the Kree did. You should have gone with Charlie. We'd have kept a lot of this crap from happening. The bad stuff. And the Phoenix is kind of our problem to fix."

"And I'm certain there is a universe somewhere where I was released from the Cube into your custody instead, but again, this is not up for speculation," Noh insisted with a bit of heat.

"No, but that doesn't mean it has to stand like this either," Logan replied. "SHIELD is off your back now. That's one thing fixed anyhow."

"And I appreciate your help in that matter," Noh said sincerely. "But I highly doubt you can help me with the Kree after I openly defied the Supreme Intelligence. I am more than happy to take the responsibility for that. It's the one thing I'm proud of from that time in my life."

"Who's in charge there?" Kurt asked, breaking in with a small frown. "You'd be surprised what we can do when we put our minds to it."

Noh chuckled to himself. "I doubt you can change Ronan the Accuser's mind," he said simply. "Really, I am happy to take responsibility for my mistake — and for the consequences of trying to right it."

"No, but he's got a face even a mother could stab," Logan said dryly, and Kate snorted loudly at that.

"That just sounds like it's stupid all over the place," Jubilee said with her arms crossed. "Happy. Stupid."

"There are consequences for my actions, Jubilee — I'd rather be happy to face them than take a coward's defense," Noh insisted.

"How is it a coward's defense if you're doing the right thing?" she demanded.

"It was only after I nearly killed my friends and allies — _knowingly_ betrayed them to their demise — that I even began to turn on the Kree. If I pay a price for that, it's because I deserve to. I wouldn't rewrite consequences, or there would be no point in my choosing otherwise." He tried to smile at her. "Surely you learn even on Earth that every action has an equal and opposite reaction, yes?"

"Doesn't mean you have to be happy about it," Kate said with an eyebrow quirked as she came to Jubilee's aid.

"Then perhaps 'happy' is the wrong word?" Noh looked between them for a moment. "I should say I am… perhaps the best term is proud?"

"That's not the right one either," Jubilee said flatly.

"Then I'm sorry," Noh said. "But I _am_ proud to be called traitor against those who threatened Earth with my aid."

"It's an honor thing," Logan offered. "I get it. But to accept whatever punishment they hand down when they're wrong … sounds like you need to listen to Cap a little bit."

"How so?" Noh asked with a frown.

"When they're wrong — they're wrong. Even if they think they're right, and even if all of them think they're right. That still doesn't make them right. You're not nearly stubborn enough on your own behalf."

"I defied the Supremor — I think that qualifies as stubborn," Noh said a little sullenly.

"Who was _wrong._ "

"And I told him so."

"So why in the hell would you even consider listening to what he thinks is reasonable punishment for going against him?" Logan asked with a deep frown. "When you _know_ he's so wrong."

"I defied the Supremor and spent months on the run from my own people, stealing their technology and razing the troops that came after me. Reasons aside, I broke the law and became a traitor to the Kree."

"After they betrayed you," Jubilee pointed out.

"That's not…" Noh pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's not possible for an individual to be betrayed by the whole. Lied to, manipulated, yes."

"Used, thrown away …" Jubilee continued.

"We're _supposed_ to be used in service to the Empire," Noh tried to explain.

"My friend, you are allowed to have your own free will," Hank said with a light smile. "Anything less than that is slavery — something we X-Men take offense to."

"The whole purpose of my creation was to serve the expansion of the Kree Empire into endless worlds," Noh argued. "Of _course_ I was happy to give my service to them."

"Until you weren't," Hank said. "And at that point they called you a criminal. That is the very clearest example of slavery, including the part where you were created to serve them. That's not right, no matter how you try to justify it."

"I went against my fundamental purpose—"

"You thought for yourself."

Noh waved his hand at Hank, clearly giving up on trying to explain his Kree culture to them. "Think of it what you will. The point stands: I cannot return to Hala, so I protect the world I have left to call home."

"Good," Jubilee said. "I'm pretty sure I'm allergic to something there."

"That, my dear Jubilee, is a shame in itself," Noh said sincerely. "As confused as the Kree in this dimension seem to be, it is always true, across universes, that Hala is a place of beauty."

"Not if you're not allowed to be there under penalty of death," she replied easily. "And I am allergic to you dying. So don't ...go rushing off to be proud of how stupid you are."

He laughed and hugged her tightly. "I promise — I will do my very best not to trigger this allergy of yours."

"Good, because if she gets so much as a sniffle from the stupid you're draggin' behind you, you won't have to worry about Ronan," Logan warned.

"I've said it before — I have no plans to do anything that would hurt Jubilee," Noh said as he met his gaze. "I swear it."

Logan held Noh's gaze for a while longer before at last he just gave a little nod, and the conversation turned elsewhere — from Kate's plans for her company to the new semester that would be starting at the school to the bamfs' ridiculous shenanigans and everything in between.

But it wasn't long before, for most of those that had been held captive, they were just ready for some sleep again, craving the time to heal and rest that they'd been denied for so long while they were captive. The little gathering eventually broke up, and Noh was headed back to the cockpit to check on the Young Avengers before he rejoined Jubilee — when Hank stopped him for a moment with a frown.

"Noh-Varr, I wonder if I might have a word," he said in a gentle tone, though Noh was still a bit uneasy as he nodded his assent.

"Of course," he said, gesturing to an unused room and following the good doctor. But before Hank could say anything, as soon as the door was closed, Noh said quickly, "If you feel I've misrepresented what happened — if you feel you were right in your earlier assessment — I wouldn't blame you in the least. I didn't get the chance to offer an explanation or apology before, but let me offer it now." He said all this in a quick rush, eyes wide and his expression entirely open.

"I was unaware that your alliances were so split at that time," Hank said. "Or that you felt so strongly to … react. The way you did."

"I'm afraid I was not very good at expressing myself then," Noh said a bit sheepishly. "The Supremor was the one who gave me my negabands and who appointed me protector of Earth… I felt I was doing that duty. It was later that I came to feel Earth was more than a duty to me, but I don't know that I expressed that well."

"You did not," Hank replied. "But you also did not reveal the extent to which the Supremor controlled you. And frame it as you wish, but it is still a form of control."

Noh shook his head. "I was naive and believed their lies," he said. "That fault is still mine."

"And yet you have not grown out of your naivety."

"I would hope I have," Noh said with a bit of a frown.

"Time will tell, it seems," Hank replied.

"I can only promise I will not be so easily lied to," Noh said. "And promise that my loyalties are to Earth first."

"I can only hope that you're not so easily controlled in the future," Hank said with a genuine heartfelt tone. "I believe your heart may already be in the right place."

Noh looked entirely relieved to hear it. "It's always been my intention to protect Earth. Even when I did not love it and it was just a duty ... I hope you'll forgive my mistakes. My intentions haven't changed, but my experience has." He drew himself up a bit. "I won't let you down."


	11. Delivered: One Summers

Notes from CC: *puts on her badge for the Scott Summers Protective Society*. Slim has been sooooo misused and under-appreciated and mis-appropriated. There is a LOT of potential on this guy that for some reason has never been tapped into. And I don't get it. Let me reiterate again in case you're new here. ALL movie versions of Scott are one note and likely written by someone who didn't get him. I do not endorse in any way the overly played out BORING imaginary love triangle crap with Scott/Jean/Logan. At all. It was something that never really worked. And Scott and Logan working together was always amazing when they weren't having a pissing contest. So. You've been warned.

Notes from robbie: So we're really glad that everyone so far has had a very positive response to Annie. She's a character that we created while discussing how to make our Cyclops emotionally healthy (even as a Scott fan, let me tell you, that takes some doing) and we ended up with this amazing woman who has just really… taken us by storm. In that spirit, I'm really excited for you guys to get a little more of a peek into her backstory and her amazing family so you can see just what made her the person she is.

* * *

 **Chapter Eleven: Delivered: One Summers**

* * *

It had been a week of good food and good company before they got back to Earth, so the entire group was looking and feeling much better when they returned than when they left. They were in high spirits, joking around and laughing once they reached Earth, but before they dropped off the Young Avengers, Logan and Scott made a point to pull Tommy in to have a little talk.

"You do good work, kid," Logan said as they made to get a cup of coffee.

Tommy looked surprised at the compliment but then shrugged and grinned, stretching out his arms as he hobbled forward on the crutch he was still using. "Yeah, I'm pretty great," he agreed.

"You should know that compliments don't come easy from him," Scott said with a crooked smile. "But, if you ever re-think joining up somewhere, we'd be happy to have you."

Tommy looked between the two of them in mild disbelief. "You're kidding, right? You've seen me blow stuff up, right?"

"And you've seen Logan try to kill _everyone_ in sight, right? It's almost a requirement to need a little polish," Scott said. "One wrong move with my quartz, and I can take out a building as quickly as you can."

Tommy grinned at that. "We're gonna have to find a ghost town and test that theory."

"I can think of a few," Scott replied, his smile widening.

"And we'll continue to encourage you to destroy things — when they need it," Logan added.

Tommy looked at both of them for a moment, all but bouncing in place as he thought it over. "I eat a _lot_ ," he warned.

"I know," Scott said. "I've been reliably informed - but we feed everyone well. It's a school full of teenagers for Christsake. We do massive quantities of food."

Tommy nodded. "And if I don't want to go on a mission?"

"As long as the world isn't ending — you don't have to. And in some cases, if it is — you don't have to," Logan agreed. "No contracts. We just want you to keep trying to get better."

Tommy looked them both over again and then broke into a wide grin. "Okay. Sure. Why not? Sounds like it could be fun."

"Great, come by the place when you're ready," Scott said. "Storm or Bobby will set you up with a room, show you anything you might have missed."

Tommy beamed at them both and then indicated the little crutch. "Give me a bit to stop being a hopalong — but I heal fast."

"Like I said, whenever you're ready," Scott reiterated. "The offer is open."

* * *

It was practically a given at that point that when they dropped Scott back off at home, Annie would insist that they come in. This was made even clearer when they got back to Alaska and Scott called home to let her know that he was back — and she made a point to tell him that _everyone_ had to come. No arguments were allowed.

"Your girl's a little bossy, Summers," Logan teased.

"She's just used to dealing with children," Scott countered with a smirk. "So she knows how to deal with you."

"She's had a lot of practice with you; guess it's time to move up a bit. Argument wise."

Scott chuckled and shook his head. "Don't argue with Annie. Even if you win, you lose," he told him frankly.

"Sounds like she's got you trained up already," Logan said with a smirk. "Good for her."

Scott just shook his head at Logan and led the way down the picturesque streets to the little home, where it looked like they already had company, if the number of cars in the driveway was anything to go by.

Logan and Kurt both slowed a bit, simply because neither of them liked to be pulled into a party full of strangers with no warning — and the cops were already there, judging by the State Patrol car in the driveway. "What's the deal, Summers?" Logan asked with a frown.

Scott just shrugged lightly. "Annie's sisters must be visiting again," he explained.

"You mean you got more than one of 'em in there?" Logan asked with a disbelieving look.

"Well, yeah." Scott turned to Logan with a little shrug. "Her family is close-knit. They visit as often as they can, actually. This," he said, gesturing toward the cars, "is a pretty regular occurrence." He paused, looked Kurt and Logan over, and then smirked. "Don't worry — the police car belongs to Anton. Those two little girls you met are his," he tried to explain.

The two of them took a moment to just think it over before they nodded and followed again, though they still looked wary.

Before they even got to the doorway, the front door burst open as both of Annie's nieces came running out, pulling behind them a little boy that none of the X-Men had met yet who looked incredibly shy about coming to meet the group.

"See? See?" Leslie Ann said as she pointed excitedly at Kurt. "See? I told you. I _told_ you we know Nightcrawler!"

Mary Beth had run right to Scott to be picked up so she could see everything as well and was delightedly giggling as Leslie Ann tried to pull the little boy over to come meet Kurt. The dark-haired little boy very shyly opened and closed one hand Kurt's way with a quietly whispered, "hi."

Kurt smiled back kindly, careful not to show too many teeth and frighten the boy as he crouched down to greet him. " _Guten Abend_ , young man," Kurt said delightedly before he extended his hand to shake it if the boy was up to it. "I'm very happy to meet you."

The little boy looked completely starry-eyed as he stared at Kurt and very carefully, and quickly, seized Kurt's hand in both of his to shake it once before he darted behind Leslie Ann, grinning the entire time.

"He's my favorite X-Man too," Kate told him with a grin.

"Well, _I_ like Iceman," Leslie Ann said matter-of-factly.

"We'll be sure to send him next time we need Scott's help," Logan promised.

"Leslie Ann, you let these poor people come inside before they all freeze to death," called out a voice from the doorway as Annie's sister came looking for her girls. She shook her head and looked apologetically at the X-Men. "They just don't listen sometimes," she said with a teasing smile. "Come on in. We're still making s'mores by the fireplace if you want somethin' sweet."

"We wouldn't want to impose on your family gathering," Kurt said quickly. "We're just bringing Scott back."

"Oh, honey, you're going to have to learn. In this family, we don't turn away friends to the cold without a little something to warm their stomachs first," she laughed. "Besides, it's high time we met Scott's family. Lord knows he's been swamped with little Annie's."

Leslie Ann seized Logan's hand. "Make a s'more with me!" she instructed him.

"That's ... really more something I think Kate is good at," Logan said with a little smirk.

"It's true. I make the best s'mores ever," Kate said, nodding seriously, and Leslie Ann took that as an invitation to grab hold of Kate and drag her inside too, as the very quiet little boy just sort of hung back, within sight of Kurt but still too shy to approach again.

As soon as the X-Men came into the house, Annie met them inside and very graciously tried to introduce them to everyone so they didn't feel left out. The girls belonged to her oldest sister, Rachel Wright — whose husband, Anton, was the one with the police car parked outside. Anton was a few inches taller than Scott and much wider — a big, African-American officer with a smooth Southern voice and a smile like the rest of the family. And the shy little boy, Annie explained, was her other sister's. Little Aman was staying with Annie's parents while her sister, Teresa, and her husband, Craig Sanders, were down in Honduras to finalize another adoption - they had adopted Aman from Ethiopia a few years earlier.

As for her parents, Evelyn and Douglas Hale, it was clear they were absolutely wrapped around little Aman's finger when he came running over to hide in his grandfather's lap and whisper instructions to tell Kurt that he was very, very excited to meet him and that he thought his ears were really cool before he blurted out, "If I wish really hard, could I grow a tail too?"

As Kurt delightedly answered all of Aman's questions — through his grandparents half the time — Annie made a point to come over and give Logan a mug of hot coffee. "I'm glad you're back safely," she said with a genuine smile. "Scott said you were in trouble."

"I'm sure he did," Logan replied, glancing Scott's way. "Though I really just needed a ride more than anything. Hitching wasn't an option."

"To be gone two weeks just for a ride?" Annie's eyes sparkled as she smiled at him. "I'm sure you're leaving out all the best details."

"Probably," Logan admitted. "But it might be better to hear it from Scott's viewpoint. I'm not a very good storyteller."

"I've heard." She smiled wider at him and just laid a hand on his arm for a moment. "It's good to have you back. The whole lot of us were prayin' you'd be alright — and Scott too."

"Scott did great," Logan told her with a little smirk. "He usually does."

She laughed and nodded, leaning against the kitchen counter. "He's good at this job. I think ... if you asked, he'd join up again in a second," she said carefully.

"To be honest, I don't think he wants to uproot you," Logan told her.

She leaned forward and, in a conspiratory whisper, said, "Honey, I've been stuck in this weather that's not fit for beans since I first started teaching. I love those kids, but this is no place for human beings."

"It's a little _nicer_ weather wise on this side of the mountains," he teased. "But Scotty knows the door's always open if he wants to come back."

She grinned wider. "Don't be surprised if I make him move down there, then. It's not Tennessee, but it'll do for starters. Headed the right direction, anyway."

"Plenty of room," he said. "I'm sure he's told you all about it."

"I'd love to see it sometime," she admitted. "He talks about it like…" She leaned back a little further and just shook her head. "Like I talk about Memphis."

"It was home for him for most of his life," Logan said with a nod. "I'm sure if you just say the word, you'll find yourself there a whole lot faster than you think."

"Maybe after school's out," Annie agreed. "I'd hate to leave those kids in the middle of the year."

"Yeah, don't do that," Logan chuckled.

"I would love to come and visit and see how your school is run," Annie said thoughtfully. "I've always wondered what kinds of courses you would offer besides the basics — reading, writing, arithmetic."

Logan just shrugged but kept his poker face. "Oh, you know. Useful stuff. Targeted for the kids in the school."

Annie looked thoughtful for a moment before their conversation was interrupted by Kate, who had Leslie Ann on her hip and was grinning ear to ear as Leslie Ann insisted that Aunt Annie had to have a Hawkeye S'more.

"Kate here teaches archery," Logan said with a smirk. "I'm sure she can fill you in a little better than I can."

"I did notice the quiver and bow when you came last time," Annie said with a soft smile as she took the sticky offering from Leslie Ann.

"It's the best thing in the world," Kate said with a wide grin. "Pretty sure everyone should be an archer. But I'm biased." She nodded at Leslie Ann, who giggled at some hidden joke the two had already come up with as she held out another s'more to Logan.

"Hawkeye S'more," she told Logan. "Extra chocolate."

"Thanks, lil' darlin'," Logan said with a crooked smile her way as he took the mess from her with a slightly scrunched up brow.

"You can clean up in the bathroom down the hall if you need it," Annie said with a little laugh. "I'm sure we're just going to have to throw these kids in the tub later tonight anyway, but no sense in you goin' home all sticky."

"Appreciate it," he replied before he abandoned the sticky mess and quickly slipped from the room.

It was difficult for the X-Men to leave the little family gathering as easily as they would have liked, as Annie's family just seemed delighted to have them around. Anton and Noh had fallen into deep conversation as soon as Noh had admitted to having a hard time finding ways to protect Earth - and Anton had just started trading stories with him from his time on the force. Jubilee and Kate were dubbed the sugar queens by Mary Beth and Leslie Ann and were absolutely not allowed to go anywhere without one or both of the girls following them — all while the bamfs tried to join in the fun as much as possible, complete with sugar and giggles. And after Aman had fallen asleep in his grandmother's lap, Kurt had been genuinely delighted when Douglas had mentioned, in passing, an "old war buddy" before Kurt got out of him that he'd served in Vietnam. From there, it was a matter of trading stories as Kurt tipped his head Logan's way and tried to get his friend to join in and see if their experiences overlapped at all.

Logan was easily coerced, and the two of them swapped details on where they had been, though it was clear pretty early on that — until Logan started giving details — Douglas didn't entirely believe that he'd been there. It had turned out they'd been stationed in a few of the same places - just not at the same time, and once that was established, they started tearing down the people that had run the different camps. But Kurt wasn't a bit surprised Douglas asked how far up the ranks Logan had climbed when Logan quickly answered that he wasn't a damn officer if that's what he was asking. "I didn't let them put me higher than sergeant."

"Never went higher than corporal myself. Too busy gettin' the real work done while the brass talked," Douglas said with a smirk.

"Where's your family from?" Logan asked. "Sounds like a little bit further south than Anchorage."

"Grew up in Sarah, Mississippi, myself," Douglas said with a smile. "But we come up here for Annie often enough to get used to the cold. She got her first teaching job out here, and Rachel moved up to watch out for her baby sister, and, well, you know how it is once you put down roots."

"Smart move, buncha roughnecks up here," Logan replied.

"Well, it helps that Anton's on the force," Douglas said with a little smile. "Folks 'round here know not to mess with the Hale sisters." Logan smirked at that and just nodded his head.

Douglas leaned back a bit and tipped his head at Logan before he said. "It's gettin' late. You'd best get movin' before dark hits." He reached out to shake Logan's hand. "But I appreciate you letting an old man reminisce for a bit."

"Any time," Logan replied. "Not too many talk about it from that war."

Douglas waved his hand. "There's always a war to talk about," he said.

"No kidding," Logan agreed.

"You ever get tired of the one you're in, look me up," Douglas added.

"I'll consider that, but all I've ever done is fight," Logan told him. "Gotta stick with what you're made for."

"Used to think that myself when I was closer to your age," Douglas said with a little nod. "But you get real tired of it after a while."

Kurt couldn't help but snort into his hand, and Logan just broke out into a broad grin, chuckling a bit to himself. When Douglas frowned their way, Logan just waved it off. "I appreciate the compliment, but ... I'm pretty sure I gotcha on years. You should ask Scott about it some time. He used to like some of my _older_ war stories if how often he was sitting in during history was any indicator."

"Seems I may have to," Douglas said, shaking his head. "There's still a lot about that boy's past he doesn't say — but you don't pry into those things. It's not done."

"He's a good kid," Logan said quietly to Douglas as he leaned in a bit. "Been through the wringer a lot worse than he should have. Not too many people I trust more'n him."

Douglas laughed quietly. "That's a strong endorsement — and a good one, considering he's marrying my baby girl," he said frankly. "You keep him from dyin' before the wedding day, won't you?"

"I'll keep him from dying well after it too," Logan promised. "Might piss him off when I do — but it's for his own good. He'll figure that part out eventually."

Jubilee bounced into the middle of the two old soldiers and pushed her sunglasses on top of her head. "Hi," she said to Douglas with a broad smile before she threw her arm over Logan's shoulders. "We are going to have to get moving — or those sweet little girls are going to find new and exciting ways to somehow add MORE sugar to those s'mores." She leaned toward Douglas with her hand on one side of her mouth as she stage whispered. "I may have planted the idea of using marshmallow Peeps instead of regular marshmallows?" She cringed dramatically as she pulled her shoulders to her ears. "Oops."

"I'll - get this one outta your hair before she starts on property damage," Logan said with a smirk as he dragged Jubilee off, with her bouncing in place as she waved at her tiny admirers, blowing them kisses and promising to come back with some 'out of this world' sweets. Though Logan had to laugh at that one as the girls squealed with delight.

"And they say _I'm_ a bad influence," Logan whispered to her.

"Don't forget, Leslie Ann," Kate was saying as they headed out the door. "The bamfs love pretzels. Remember this. Pretzels. Your little Penelope-bamf is going to need pretzels."

As they were headed out the door, one of the bamfs reappeared holding another little fuzzy blue doll. Kurt thanked him and ruffled his hair before handing it to Evelyn. "For Aman," he told her. "If he'd like it, that is. It's not fair for him to be the only one without."

Evelyn positively beamed as she took the doll and reached up to pinch Kurt's cheek. "You have just made his day," she told Kurt. "I'll make sure he's tucked in with it." With that, she also wrapped Kurt in a warm hug.

After several rounds of goodbyes that took far longer than normal because Annie's family kept insisting that they promise to come back — the group of now well-fed X-Men finally made their way back to the mansion after being gone for so long… and it didn't take long at _all_ for the picking to start up.

"So how long are you two going to wait?" Jubilee asked Kate. "I mean. You both were exceptionally good. And I mean — like — I am the glitter _queen_? But I am SO not getting close to THAT glitter. You two are leaving a star trail."

Kate snorted at her and rolled her eyes. "I'm only four and a half," she said with a smug look Logan's way as he just started laughing. "I'm too young to have that glitter problem."

"Well ... four and a half _mentally_ sure," Jubilee said. "But the rest of you? Watch out."

"Uh-huh." Kate smirked and leaned back as she tried to fend off some sticky marshmallowy bamf hugs. "See, at least _I_ have a reason to have practiced," she said, pointing at the bamfs. "You? You are just _asking_ for it. Or have you and Marvel Boy not figured out your birds and bees yet?" she teased.

"Young lady Bishop," Jubilee said in a snooty tone. "I have that whole issue well in hand, thank you so much for your concern. Where you are four and a half, I am WELL beyond you." She accentuated her point by sticking her tongue out and crossing her arms.

"Yes, exactly," Kate countered. "You're at _least_ old enough not to be siblings with Scott's little nieces." She grinned wickedly. "Which makes you, my friend, the glitter queen."

"Well, spending ten years as a bloodsucker will have that effect," she agreed. "But I still LOOK young enough to be your sister. Troublemaker."

"Don't start things you can't finish," Kate teased.

"I'm just saying. You have started things already. And with an _older man_ ," She let out a low whistle. "That is like — begging for trouble. And it's all over the news. Wait until the glitter starts to show. You two are going to make these little bamfs look like trolls with your glitter."

Kate just laughed. " _If_ that happened. In the _far,_ far, _far_ future?" She leaned forward with a satisfied smirk. "Imagine the headline: J Jonah Jameson yells at poor poor pregnant lady. What an evil, horrible man."

"That is a horrible thought. You should get on that right now. I'll pull the curtain. Turn on some mood music"

"Well, _that_ part I'm not opposed to at all," Kate said with a teasing grin as she slipped over to where Kurt was just shaking his head at both of them. She kissed him on the cheek and just grinned even wider.

Kurt pulled her tighter to him and kissed her forehead as he just chuckled and shook his head at her. "You two are simply terrible influences on each other," he said with mock seriousness.

"You love it," she told him as she nuzzled in and just kept right on grinning at him.

"Yes, that's true," he agreed before he tipped her head up and kissed her deeply.


	12. The Company You Keep

Notes from CC: Yay! Another OC joins the ranks of "YES." Glad to see it. :D Really now … I can see Annie making a LOT of the heroes uncomfortable, but that's part of what I love about her. (Hey JD! Glad to see you 3 Much love and danke for the review! We love our time together playing here!)

Notes from robbie: *relieved noises* Oh, I'm so glad y'all like Annie's family. (Yes, I did do a lot of the regionalisms for those guys. My mammaw and pappaw are from small-town rural Southern areas, though I'm a bit of a city girl myself.)

And for real, JD, I agree with you so much. Scott has been used and abused and we're just - no. No, Marvel, you are not allowed to have this sweet boy anymore. We're taking him away from telepaths and sticking him with a nice, normal family, because really, that's what he's wanted this whole time. *Scott Defense Squad President* (you can be VP if you want :P)

* * *

 **Chapter 12: "The Company You Keep"**

* * *

That morning, Bobby was watching the news in the kitchen, monopolizing the remote from anyone else who had come down to breakfast, when Forge showed up with the old blueprints from the blackbird, ready to re-hash how to improve on the old design and work in some of the things that Scott had requested before he went back to Alaska. Seeing as the blackbird had been destroyed, they had to rebuild it anyway, so they might as well implement the upgrades he wanted.

"Why isn't he here again?" The tall Native American asked as he unrolled the blueprints that were stained here and there with old coffee rings and grease smudges.

"He's engaged to a nice girl. Doesn't want to screw it up," Logan told him as he went over to join him and Bobby hushed them both.

"JJ's on another rant," Bobby explained as he turned the volume up and the three of them looked up to see what it was that had his whiskers twisted this time.

"It's one thing to go back on a contract with someone who put in _years_ of hard work just because a little girl got twisted around by one of these mutants and wants to hold them to arbitrary standards that weren't in place when the contracts were signed. It's entirely immoral and possibly illegal, mind you, to go back on these lifetime contracts for no _solid_ reasons, but it's one thing to do that to these hardworking writers—" JJ was saying. "—but she can't even tell them herself — she's in hiding somewhere — can't even face the people whose livelihoods she's destroying! We hear about all these contracts being cancelled at Bishop Publishing, but does Ms. Bishop return even a single phone call from the people whose years of hard work are being flushed down the drain? No! Is this really how you run a business? Hiding from your own writers?"

Part of the way through JJ's rant, Kate had come down the stairs in her usual state of morning disrepair, but when she'd heard Jameson's voice, she'd woken up pretty darn fast and just started glaring.

"I was in _space_ in a futzing _space mine_ you lousy rotten little cretin," she growled out.

"Pretty sure if you told that to him he'd try to have you committed," Logan pointed out.

Kate crossed her arms. "For what? Not like he doesn't know aliens exist."

"Just because he knows doesn't mean that he'd ever say anyone outside of SHIELD and the Avengers have had any dealings with them," Forge answered as he went back to his blueprints.

"I have pictures from space on my phone," Kate pointed out.

"Photoshop," Forge said distractedly as he made a few notations. He hadn't even looked up.

"I had an _alien boyfriend_." Kate glared at him.

"Delusions of grandeur," Forge replied. "That or — you know. Just more proof of your 'poor' taste in men."

"Aww, who asked you anyway?" Kate said with a glare that could have killed if he was paying more attention.

Forge looked up at her and blinked a few times. "I'm not saying I agree; I'm just pointing out how he'd spin it." He frowned and started to carefully and lightly sketch out a new profile for the plane.

Kate glared at him for a while again and then tossed her hair over her shoulder. "I've got to call him now or I look like I'm still hiding. I hate his guts," she sighed, looking through her phone. "I think I'll call all the other networks first though. And maybe drop some suggestions that he look into the way he treats _his_ writers. Jen and Matt made sure _I'm_ perfectly within my legal rights, and _he's_ a cesspool of verbal abuse and predatory low payments for his freelancers."

"Smile when you talk on the phone. I'm told it'll make you sound like you don't want to rip his head off," Logan advised halfheartedly as he started making his additions and writing down his requests to Forge's design.

"If I imagine kicking him in between his legs while I talk to him, it usually helps," Kate said through her teeth.

"If that's what makes you smile," Logan said as he glanced up at her with a smirk. "I'll buy you a new pair of boots."

She grinned at him and then slid over to see what they were doing, curiosity temporarily overcoming her annoyance. "Rebuilding the plane?" she asked over her coffee mug.

"Fury offered to loan us one, but I don't want to use SHIELD equipment," Logan explained. "Price is too high."

"Yeah, he might send you on a space mission and let you get hugged by some new former teammate," Kate said with a smirk.

He gave her a witheringly dry look. "You really aren't that funny."

"I'm hilarious. You're just grumpy," she said, waving her hand at him. She glanced up at the TV again. "I think I'll tell that loser I can't possibly be asked to personally talk to one of thousands of writers on my staff, but if he wants to play numbers, he can tell me about all the writers on the Bugle he's _personally_ fired."

"Good luck, whatever you tell him," Forge said. "Get him."

"Good luck with your plane stuff," Kate said as she headed out the door, her phone already to her ear. "Can't wait to see the new model."

Forge and Logan just shared a look before they went back to their planning - only for a new visitor to crash into the kitchen as well. It was Noh-Varr, and he looked to be carrying all sorts of odds and ends in a little bag at his hip. He was looking over his shoulder as he came in. "I have never been terrified of one of Kate's smiles before," he said in a slightly disbelieving tone as he crossed the kitchen.

Logan just half snorted to himself and waved him over. "What's on your mind? Didn't expect to see you back so soon."

"I felt bad about the loss of your craft," Noh admitted. "It was the Accusers who destroyed it, and as I said — they are my problem." He set the bag down on the table with a small smile. "Besides, I told Cyclops that I would help him update that cumbersome Shi'ar technology."

"Well now I guess we can start from scratch," Logan said. "If the Accusers hadn't wrecked it, someone else would have. It's been rebuilt a few times."

Logan straightened up when Forge cleared his throat and gave him a significant look. "Right. You two haven't met. Noh — this is our usual designer. He goes by Forge. Forge—" he waved to Noh. "Jubilee's newest … friend."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Noh said with a sincere smile Forge's way. "I hope you'll forgive my saying that your plane designs were severely out of date."

"Oh, no forgiveness needed. It needed updating before Charles died," Forge replied. "And - yeah. Out of date is a really polite way to put it. But that — that's kind of what you get when you merge Shi'ar and whatever was top of the line at the time. Shi'ar parts weren't exactly easy to find, so I modified."

Noh nodded thoughtfully and then gestured toward the bag. "I've brought a few odds and ends you might find useful. They are far more intuitive than Shi'ar technology, and, I hope, more easily merged."

Forge didn't wait for further invitation before he stepped around Logan to the bag and frowned at the contents before he picked up the closest hunk of machinery. "Oh," he said, tipping his head to the side. "This — this is an auxiliary control," Forge said as his brows drew together and he turned it over in his hands. "We don't have anything that will integrate with this power source though."

"I had a few ideas about that," Noh said as he slid into the seat between the two of them.

Logan handed him a pencil and just gestured to the designs. "Have a ball."

Noh grinned as he started to scribble, then paused and looked at Forge. "Can you read Kree? It would be easier for me to explain in my native language."

"Yes, go ahead," Forge replied with a nod. "If I come across something beyond me, I'll tell you."

"Marvelous." Noh went back to scribbling. "I saw the way you integrated Shi'ar technology into your ship, and while the design was outdated, the merging tools were very nearly genius," he muttered as he did so. "I thought we could use the psionic output of my ship's piloting interface to do something similar."

As the two of them got more excited and started bouncing ideas between them, Logan very quietly slipped away from them and headed to the garage to work on something a bit more worldly. The motorcycle had been begging for a tune up, and he knew the business with the jet was in good hands.

He'd been working on it for a good couple of hours when all hell broke loose. A high-pitched scream that sounded far less like one of terror and far more like a Shi'ar battlecry echoed all the way to where Logan was suddenly forced to abandon the bike and rush inside.

There, in the kitchen, Warbird was making a rush, sword drawn right at Noh, who had squared up and drawn his own weapons, both of which were leveled at her chest. Logan didn't waste the breath telling them to stop — simply because he knew better - and instead, he just rushed in between the two of them and put up a set of claws toward both of their faces.

"There will be no fighting between the two of you here." He looked at Noh for just a moment before he concentrated on Warbird, knowing that she was the instigator in this would-be scuffle. "My threat remains. Anyone in these halls that is clearly a welcome guest is under my protection. I will remove that head of yours and boot it into the lake. Am I clear?"

The Shi'ar body guard glared venomously at him for a moment before she looked past him to Noh. "But he doesn't receive the same threats?"

"He was ready to _defend_ ," Logan replied. "You were attacking." He turned toward Noh with a meaningful glare. "You were just _defending_ right? Or do I have to threaten to take your head off too?"

Noh glared past Logan at Warbird. "I was defending myself," he said very carefully. "I didn't come here to fight Shi'ar."

"Good," Logan said before he turned back to Warbird, though he didn't lower his claws. "Start it up again and I'll let him kill you."

Warbird glared venomously. "I will not _start_ anything," she said at last.

"Then run along," Logan growled out her way.

When Warbird finally, grudgingly, left the room, Noh let out a sigh and shook his head at Forge and Logan. "You keep strange company."

"She came here as a bodyguard to one of the kids at the school and just stayed even after the kid was gone," Logan told him. "He was a pain in the ass."

"It must be an important child to have such a…" Noh paused, searching for the word. " _Distinguished_ Shi'ar in your ranks."

"Emperor's son," Logan admitted. "Charles arranged for it through his old alliance — the Emperor more or less kicked her out of the Imperial guard. Said somethin' about serving a higher purpose. She's been kinda teaching art ever since."

Noh didn't bother to hide his astonishment as he gaped openly at Logan. "The emperor's son?" he repeated, then shook his head.

"Coming here was supposed to be a punishment for him. For destroying half of their capital city for fun." Logan gave him a look.

"And she _teaches_ here." Noh let out a clear noise of derision.

"Drawing," Logan said. "Apparently that's taboo for Imperial Warbirds. But old habits die hard."

"That's encouraging, then, that she is pursuing new things." Noh just ran a hand through his hair and tried to look more relaxed.

"She said it was something she did when she was a kid — in secret. Burned them once she'd finished them. Thought it was disgraceful."

"It _is_ disgraceful — for the Shi'ar to keep art from blooming. Even in my universe, my people recognized the importance of creative endeavors." He paused and smirked. "Even if there were no tight harmony groups." He paused, made a few notations in the blackbird specs, and then picked up his train of thought again. "And in the meantime, you have this former Imperial Shi'ar wandering your halls?"

"She usually sticks pretty much to herself," Logan admitted. "Unless she's trying to talk Bobby into performing mating rituals."

Noh looked at him a bit open-mouthed. "And… does Iceman…?"

"There is _no way in hell,_ " Logan replied. "Doop on the other hand … well. I'm just glad he's outta here if he's going to do stuff like that. Place needs to have _some_ standards."

"That's a relief." Noh leaned back and sighed before he admitted, "It already feels a bit like enemy territory just looking through your technology. I would hate to think there were…. _Familial_ ties with one like her."

"No. Not going to happen," Logan assured him. "Ask Bobby if you want to ease your mind, but she freaks him out. I'm pretty sure she's never gotten past second base with him."

Noh made an obvious face at that. "And what does she do around this mansion when she is not bothering your guests?" he asked as he sat back down.

"Like I said," Logan replied as he joined Noh. "Teaches art and terrifies Bobby. Otherwise she likes to _say_ she's our security but that just amounts to her thinkin' she's hot shit and bothering guests from time to time."

Noh chuckled. "Perhaps you need an actual security officer to protect you from _her._ "

"She's not a real concern but — it would be nice to upgrade that too." He shook his head and let out a breath. "I'm always up for new ideas."

"I'd like to look at your security measures as well, if it's not too much to ask," Noh said thoughtfully. "I don't like to think my friends live anywhere without the best of security measures — not outdated Shi'ar technology."

"You're a _guest_ ," Logan said with a little smirk. "So — make yourself at home. If that means adding to the security? Go for it."

* * *

It was a few days later when Kate finally had her moment with J. Jonah Jameson. And everyone watching was entertained.

"Kurt, you gotta see this," Logan said with an amused smirk as he stuck his head in the door of Kurt's room. "Kate is having a ball on national television and I think Parker might have an aneurism from laughing if he keeps it up." He turned his head and lost the smirk completely. "What the hell is going on in here anyhow?"

What had previously been a desk now looked like it was simply the centerpoint of stacks of books and legal files and boxes. "What did she do? It looks like a law office and a used book store vomited together with the leftovers of a busted up archery range."

Kurt let out a sigh and shook his head. "She's trying to reorganize the entire company, I think. From this little desk." He laughed just a bit as he gestured to the piles. "I'm afraid it's going to take over my room if something doesn't happen soon, but she is just so determined that it's almost a shame to ask her to move anything."

Logan stepped in a bit further, carefully avoiding the stacks of papers and picked up the book on the top of the nearest stack.

"Don't," Kurt said, rushing over to put the book back. "Don't alter her 'organization', and don't bother reading that tripe."

Logan nodded and just watched Kurt for a moment. "You think you can 'port this crap somewhere else — you know. More or less how she left it — just not here?" Kurt frowned and looked up at his friend.

"What do you have in mind?" he asked as he watched the smirk on Logan's face.

"I think our crackshot editor needs an office. Pretty sure we have a spare one or three." He tipped his head toward the door. "Come on, I'll help you. We'll even put in a coffee maker so she doesn't have to mess with that too."

* * *

That afternoon, Noh had come back to the mansion with a few more ideas for security upgrades that of course he wanted to show Forge first before presuming to make the changes himself — though he arrived in the middle of a class change and somehow ended up heading toward the art department.

He couldn't help being a bit curious, really. Shi'ar were known for being scavengers of technology and better ways to kill — not for art. So what was Shi'ar art? And as soon as he overheard one of the students talking about their art class… well, he'd been told that the staff often visited each other's classes. He assumed he could just sit in the back of the class and observe. Just to satisfy his curiosity.

"Why are you here?" Warbird asked with a glare when she saw Noh in the doorway.

"Curiosity," he said, carefully. "I heard you teach here and wanted to see for myself."

"I don't know what you're trying to learn about my fellow warbirds, but I won't divulge anything to you." She had a bit of a sneer on her face, though she didn't drop her gaze in the least.

"You presume a lot to think I'm interested in you as a case study when you are here on Earth teaching _art_ ," Noh said, his arms crossed. "There are _warriors_ I could look to instead."

Her hands gripped the swords at her side as she clearly took it as an insult. "Get out," she said. "From one _failed_ warrior to another — you wouldn't be here either unless you'd been banished. I am still welcome on my home planet — can you say the same?"

He glared at her openly as it was obvious the blow struck home, but he quickly recovered with a low hiss. "I _can_ — though you'd be executed on sight in _my_ universe. It's a shame this one is so… _lax_ about your kind."

"Unlike the Kree, we Shi'ar do tend to make use of even the most worthless trash before it's thrown out. I wonder what uses I could find for you?"

By that time, both of them were clearly taking up fighting positions, nearly circling while still keeping from outright confrontation. "I cannot think of a single use for _you_ ," Noh sneered. "But then, space debris is useless even to Shi'ar."

"Yet I hold a position here … so even the X-Men can't find a somewhat decent use for white-haired space trash that your own people could not."

Noh let out another low hiss at that, taking a step forward with his teeth bared. "Don't speak of what you don't understand."

She just smirked his way. "Oh, did I touch a nerve? Do you need to cry about it? I thought even Kree warriors were supposed to be made of tougher stuff than that."

His glare deepened as he took another step forward, and the mesmerized students watching the show watched as he pointed a finger her way, one long claw extending to nearly dagger length and inching toward her as he hissed out, "Do not test me."

"Ah, something we can agree on — at least, in my homeworld, only superiors would do the testing."

With a cry, Noh sprang forward and simply dragged his claws along one side of her even as she had already pulled out her swords to drive one into his side, and it wasn't long before they were both scrambling to get the edge on each other as the students very quickly exited the classroom to get somewhere safe from the fight. If the chaos of the students wasn't enough to let the other teachers nearby know something was wrong, the Shi'ar war cry was — as Warbird let out a piercing shriek that had Noh gasping at the frequency the Imperial Shi'ar were trained to know would best rupture tympanic membranes and not just irritate Kree.

By the time Logan and Bobby arrived to the classroom, Noh had retaliated for being half-deafened by simply applying his considerable strength to throw Warbird so hard into the wall that she had to work herself free, and he got in a few good licks before she could get out. They were both fairly bloodied, Warbird from scratches and blows and Noh from her swords — not to mention Noh was turning worryingly purple from the bruising and bleeding beneath his skin at the ruptured membrane.

Logan had moved to hold Noh while Bobby had pushed Warbird back with a pretty heavy blast of ice that had her hands frozen to a block that ended about waist high.

"What the hell don't the two of you idiots understand about NO?" Logan barked out to both of them. "Which one of you started this?"

"We were simply talking when he attacked," Warbird half hissed.

"I came here to observe art and found that, as I suspected, there was no art to be found except insults and posturing," Noh shot back.

"Look around the room," she half snarled.

"Typical Shi'ar. Take what others create and declare it as yours."

"Those are hers, Noh," Logan said quietly. "I've seen her working on them."

Noh just spared him a glance for a moment before he looked to Warbird. "See how easy that was? I have learned more of your art in three seconds than in an entire class period with _you_."

"You want to take her through your music collection now?" Logan asked, completely straight faced.

"There is no need," Noh said with a sneer.

"It's the same thing," Logan said. "How many other Kree warriors have a collection like you do?"

"Mine is unique," Noh said with a touch of pride.

"Face it," Bobby said with a wary look Warbird's way. "You're both freaks when it comes to your own species. Not that it's a bad thing…"

"Looks like you're both in the right place," Logan said as he waited for Noh to meet his gaze. "Keep that in mind the next time you want to start a pissing contest."

"I only wanted to explore," Noh insisted. "And to learn. This is a _school_."

"I know," Logan said as he turned to Warbird. " _You_ need to remember where you are. You're not an Imperial Warbird anymore. Let it go or get out." He took a moment before he turned back to Noh. "And you — don't be so thin-skinned with her. You know she's going to try to bait you. Don't let her."

"Don't worry. My sudden inability to hear her grating voice will greatly help that. I'll probably be relieved the rest of my stay here for her kindness," Noh said with a heavy tone of sarcasm that Logan wasn't used to hearing from him.

"That doesn't mean you get to bait her either," Logan said dryly.

"He can't help that he lacks discipline and control," Warbird sneered.

"Alright, you want to talk discipline and control, you and me can go talk this over in the Danger Room," Logan said her way. "Same goes for you, Bug Boy."

"I'd be happy to show her how _real_ warriors fight," Noh half snarled Warbird's way.

"What's going on here?" Jubilee asked as she stepped around the corner and poked her head into the room. "The kids said that there was a crazy alien showdown?" She took one look at the two bloodied aliens and just let out a long groan.

"Seriously you guys? Why?" Jubilee said as she stepped in the middle of the two of them with her arms crossed and her bottom lip jutted out. "Neither one of you are working for the man anymore. Let it go or so help me I'll paff the both of you into next Tuesday."

She stalked toward Warbird. "I just … I thought you were _smarter_ than this. You were _freed._ " She turned toward Noh. "And you? I thought you said you wouldn't fight her?"

"I told you I would not attack her simply because she is Shi'ar," Noh corrected her.

"Sweetheart, please," she said, taking his face in both of her hands and starting to pepper him with little kisses. "Don't wreck my house over her."

He relaxed substantially and just let out a breath as he pulled her over. "I meant no insult to you or your home. I'm sorry."

"I know," she said, continuing her little assault. "Don't we have something better to do than fight one angry little Shi'ar?"

Before Warbird could interject her opinion, Logan held up a hand in her direction in warning. "Just because she's willing to play around with him and Bobby doesn't want to head into your torture chamber does not mean you have one word to say about this."

"What would you like to do instead, Jubilee?" Noh asked with a little teasing smile. "I can think of several things."

"I think," she said, finally stopping the kisses for a moment. "Maybe have Hank look you over so I know all the kisses you need."

"Need and want are such distinctions in your world," he said with a teasing smile as he took her hand in his less-bloodied one. "If you had asked how many kisses I _want_ , there would be no need for Hank in this equation."

"Yes, well — there's that … but also, I want to know _where_ you need these kisses to heal up right."

"Considering my tympanic membrane is ruptured, and that covers my entire skin…" Noh just trailed off and grinned, shooting a small glance Warbird's way before he focused his full attention on Jubilee.

"Then we better go to Hank fast so I can get to work," Jubilee said with a grin.

"Jubilation, I shouldn't ever have to hear any of this," Logan muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Ever. Just ... get out of here — and take your alien boy toy with you."

"Gladly!" Jubilee replied with a wide grin and all but bounced out of the room with Noh in her wake, leaving Logan and Bobby to talk Warbird down from the obvious mental breakdown she was on the edge of.

* * *

As Kate pulled into the garage in the mansion after her interview with JJ, she was singing along to the radio and in high spirits. That had gone _exceedingly_ well, especially when she'd taken Bobby's suggestion to heart and pointed out that she didn't even _have_ mutants on her staff, and he had _two_. That was a magnificent shade of purple, and she was going to replay his beautiful, beautiful silence until the rest of forever.

When she opened the door to the garage, she was greeted by a still chuckling Spidey, who picked her up in a hug and spun her around a few times before he set her down again. "That. Was … I Just … I can't …" He grinned wider and shook his head. "You're my new hero."

She giggled delightedly and hugged him back. "I set my phone to record the stuff they didn't air in the commercial breaks," she promised. "Just for you." She giggled again, still pleased about it.

"It's not even my _birthday_ ," he said with a giggle. "And my stomach hurts already from all the laughing."

"Which was your favorite? The purple color with the mutant question? Or the part where the guy running the panel couldn't stop laughing when I asked if he was suggesting a _girl_ couldn't run a company?"

"All of it. All of it — every _single_ moment was golden," Peter said with a grin.

She laughed. "I had a good coach, Spidey. And I expect auto-tuned JJ as payment. _That_ is golden, my friend."

"I am sure I have no idea what you're talking about," he replied. "But if you have a particular tune in mind ..."

"I'll send you a playlist," Kate promised, still grinning and giggling. "Now — where's my little Elf? I was expecting a hug from him too — not that Spidey hugs aren't the best ever," she added, hugging him again for good measure.

"Last I saw, he said he was headed upstairs," Peter replied, still grinning. "Oh my God, my face hurts from smiling so much."

"My present to you." She grinned at him, kissed his cheek, and then waved. "Have fun with the playlist." With that, she all but skipped up the stairs, still in a _great_ mood as she all but blew into Kurt's room, expecting hugs and kisses — but he wasn't there.

And neither were any of her books or files.

The pleased grin evaporated instantly, and she ran to the desk, looking around for something, _anything_ that had been left behind of all her hard work. "No, no, no," she muttered. "Months of work — what… where did it _go_?" She searched the entire room, even though she knew she wouldn't find all those boxes and books - as a sort of panic settled over her.

"Kate?" Kurt called out as he stepped into the room and saw her state of agitation. "Are you alright?"

"Kurt," she said breathlessly, running over to him, "did you see — where did it… it's _gone_!"

He smiled her way and took her hands in his. "Come with me; all will be explained."

She looked over her shoulder at the empty desk and then sighed and nodded. "Do you know where… I mean…"

"Do you trust me?" he countered, holding out his hand to her.

"Of course, yeah," she said, pulling her gaze back to his.

"Then look at _me_ , and I'll take you to your new office."

She blinked at him a few times. "New… what?"

"My bedroom is no place for legal documents and hateful books. I prefer to keep it a bit more positive," he said before he kissed her forehead. "And you need room to spread out and really _see_ everything at once. That would not happen here."

She still looked downright shocked as she looked up at him before the slow grin spread over her face and she stood on her toes to steal a kiss. "You're very cute when you talk sense."

At that, he teleported them down to the hall outside of her new space, so she could see where to find it, before he opened the door to reveal everything as she'd had it laid out — only a bit more spread out and with room to organize. To top it off, there was a new coffeemaker nearly done brewing a fresh pot.

She took it all in for a long moment, her mouth open in obvious surprise, before she spun around and simply flung her arms around his neck to kiss him passionately. "I love it," she told him when the kiss broke before she just giggled and kissed him all over again.

It wasn't until _much_ later that day that a very weary-looking Logan knocked on her door to check on her — checking in on the editorial office after having had to spend several hours talking Warbird out of the trees after her disgraceful failed battle with Noh. "Any trouble with the new digs?"

Kate glanced up at him from where she was sorting through files — boxes and books strewn everywhere as she was sorting through shelves and creating a better filing system. She had a pen between her teeth and was brewing yet another pot of coffee, and she just grinned at him around the pen before she tucked it behind her ear and waved him in. "I love it to pieces. You guys're spoiling me rotten, you know."

"I'm told I needed a hobby that didn't include stabbing people."

She just grinned at him. "Come on in. Feel free to stab anything in that stack to the right. Those're the next wave of cancellations, and I'm using them for target practice." She shrugged up to her ears. "It's a good stress reliever."

"I'm good, thanks," he replied before he crossed the room to take an open seat and watch her as she went back to sorting through large stacks of paper that he realized quickly were manuscripts marked up with curly red writing.

"Once I'm all set up here, I'm thinking I might have a few authors for interviews in that chair," she said, waving her hand at where Logan was sitting. "You know. Once I find _one_."

"You can't find one?" he asked with a little frown as he looked again at the stacks and stacks of books.

"Well…" She hedged for a moment. "Actually, there's some really good ones. I really want to sign them. And I will. But it's not… _debut_ material," she explained. "I want to open up the new wave of books with a _bang_ , and I can't find anyone who's not brand new or... You know. Not _respectable_." She let out a long breath. "Last thing I need is for JJ to say I can't get any big names now that we're cleaning up. It'll just add fuel to the fire that I'm tearing down one of the biggest names in publishing by doing, you know, what I'm doing."

"Big names like who? I'm sure i'm missing something here," Logan said, frowning a bit deeper. "I thought the whole point of publishers was to pick up new people."

"Yes and no?" Kate let out a breath and ran a hand over her face before she gestured at the pile of manuscripts. "There are some _really good_ ones in here. I mean it. But if my company doesn't have 'star power,' they're not going to get as much press. _That's_ the point — I'm supposed to help them get their names out there, and I need to be able to use the big name press to help the little names get to shine too." She shifted a few more piles. "I just want something that will show the new theme, the new direction — something less hateful than my dad was putting out, more … peaceful? You know. The opposite of Dad."

Logan nodded as he let out a slow sigh. "Something like ... peaceful co-existence, maybe?"

"Yes, that," Kate said, pointing at him with her pen. "That exactly."

He looked tired as he stood up slowly and waved for her to follow him. "Come on, I think I have a present for you."

She grinned at him. "Already got one present today. Are you trying to spoil me _worse_?" she teased.

"Rotten," he agreed. "But this — you asked for this. Come on."

"Alright." She stood up from her desk and followed him, a curious expression on her face all the way down the hall.

He led her right to Charles' old study and pushed the doors open to cross the room and take a seat at his desk for a moment. "Sit down," he suggested as he fiddled with the lock on the bottom right hand drawer behind the desk. "This might take a minute, and I don't want to break the lock."

She tilted her head at him quizzically but did as he asked, just waiting to see what it was Logan was up to.

After a few moments — and an echoing click that sounded much louder than it should have in the empty office — he pulled out a massive stack of papers, bound together and clearly looking like an old manuscript, and simply dropped it on the top of the desk. "You just need Scott's signature," Logan told her. "No one would publish it."

She very carefully looked over the top of the stack, and her eyes widened when she saw the name under the working title. "Are you sure?" she asked, almost reverently as she gently traced her fingers over the name 'Charles Xavier.'

"Charlie wanted it out there," Logan told her as he sat back in Charles' old chair. "And — once it came out that he was a mutant, he was no longer anything any publisher would touch. You want well-respected and well-known? I can't think of anyone better."

She stared at the manuscript for a long time before she just let out a long breath and scrambled around the desk to throw her arms around Logan's neck. "This — this is _exactly_ what I've been looking for. D'you think Scott will let me publish it?"

"If he doesn't, I'll forge his signature for you," Logan promised.

She laughed and just hugged him again. "You — you may have just totally saved my butt," she told him seriously.

"All in a day's work, right?" he teased. "It's what I do."

She beamed at him and then carefully, almost tenderly, picked up the stack of papers. "I'll get right on this one. My acquisitions department will be _beyond_ relieved to have something like _this_ to work with."

"Might want to make them come here for this one," Logan suggested. "I wouldn't put it past someone to try and sabotage you."

"Oh, don't worry." Kate nodded seriously. "Why do you think I was keeping everything in Kurt's room? None of those anti-mutant bozos would be caught dead in this place," she added with a little smirk.

"Good. Just let me know if you need anything else," Logan told her. "I might be able to pull a hat trick or two if I got nothin' better to do."

She grinned at him. "I'll save the begging for Captain America war stories for if I'm _really_ in the hole," she teased.

"I hope you mean getting his side of those war stories," Logan told her as they headed out of Charles' office.

"His side, your side, Fury's side — I'm not picky as long as I get the scoop," she said brightly.

"Only 'bout 70 or so years too late for a scoop, kiddo," he pointed out as he held her door open for her.

She laughed. "Maybe. But it's still stuff that the history books won't include." She beamed at him. "Already had a few letters from writers who got censored off the books. I'm _really_ hoping this gets us enough traction to start the new line without tanking the company. I have plans to give those writers voices after my dad and his buddies were just _silencing_ them for so long."

"We can get Cap to write a forward if you think it'll help," Logan told her as they headed back down the hall to Kate's office. "He owes me a few."

"Maybe for the war stories," she said with a little smile. She sat down at her desk and put Charles' papers in a position of prominence right at the middle before she settled back down into working through her organization, now quietly humming to herself. He was about to leave her to it when she called out, "Hey, do you know someone called Kamala Khan? She's an Avenger — asked me to say hi in her cover letter for her book."

"Don't think so," he replied.

"Well, I might invite her up for a one-on-one. She's pretty good." Kate grinned at him. "Maybe you can make a new friend."

"Right," he laughed lightly. "Like that's my specialty now?" He shook his head at her. "Go be an editor and quit bein' a pain."

"Careful, Wolverine, or I'll publish a book called 'Giant Hug Magnet' just for you," she teased.

"I'll have Murdock and LLL on your ass before you can proof it," he countered. "Defamation of character."

"For your information, Matt Murdock would be on _my_ side."

"He's been on retainer for me for years," Logan argued. "Did my 'welcome back to life' paperwork."

"Yeah, but he also told me he only takes cases he believes in. Something about getting to the truth," she shot right back.

"Then the intergalactic assassin lawyers then," he replied " _If_ he doesn't take my case. But — I really think trying to sell me as a hug magnet goes far enough against my established image — you'd be laughed out of publication."

"A small price to pay for getting the _truth_ out there," she teased.

"I should take back that manuscript," he said with a little frown as he took a few steps back toward her desk.

"Hey — no. No, no. It's too perfect." Kate shook her head repeatedly.

"Then be nice," he told her seriously.

She looked at him for a moment and then slipped around the desk to give him a little kiss on the cheek. "Thank you very much, you sweet man," she told him. "I really, really appreciate it, and I promise I won't tell the world about your huggable secret identity."

"Libel, Bishop. You don't want to kick things off like that."

"Hey, I just promised I wouldn't." She put a hand over her heart and grinned at him. "I'm kicking things off with this beautiful book," she said, gesturing at Charles' work. "And then some _amazing_ fiction novels a few mutant writers have sent me. You should read them." She sounded excited about it. "They really are good."

"If I have to," he said before he finally slipped out to leave her to her work as the fresh pot of coffee finished up behind her.


	13. Summers Family Invasion

**Notes from CC; Hope you had a happy thanksgiving if you were stateside, if not - well. Thursday was beautiful here for us. ;) Hang in there, dear readers - the fun is just getting wound up to amazing levels. I SWEAR.**

 **Notes from robbie: Yes, lots of turkey and family fun around here… so we figured we'd bring you some Summers family wonderfulness for the holidays ;)**

* * *

 ** **Chapter 13: "Summers Family Invasion"****

* * *

"He'll be here Saturday," Kurt assured Kate as he hung up his cell phone and kissed her cheek. "He's bringing Annie with him, and they'll be staying for nearly a week."

Kate beamed at Kurt and kissed his cheek. "That's great. That's really good." She readjusted her headband for the third time. "And you really think he'll okay it? I mean — I've read the whole thing and I've had it edited and proofread, and… we just need his signature…." She ran a hand through her hair again nervously.

"I'm sure he'll be perfectly cooperative," Kurt tried to reassure her again as he pulled her a little closer and kissed her cheek. "Once he hears what you'd like to do, it will be a done deal."

She nodded and wrapped her arms around him with a long sigh. "I've never run anything like this," she told him as she hugged him tighter. "I guess I'm just nervous. Before I was an archery teacher? I had, like, one real job. In my life. Prep school aside, this is… way harder than I thought it would be."

"You'll do fine," he promised. "But it would help if you relax a bit."

She stood on her toes to kiss him. "What, the bundle of nerves isn't a cute look on me?" she teased.

"As you've pointed out before — every look is cute on you," he replied with a grin. "I just prefer you relaxed and teasing, not tense and anxious."

"I'm sure I'll be back to normal come Sunday," she assured him. "If all goes well." She grinned at him sideways. "And I've even got an author coming Monday. I think…" She took a breath. "I almost don't want to say it out loud, but I _think_ this is starting to come together. Finally."

"Of course it is," he agreed with a nod. "Now you just need to try and not give yourself a heart attack before Saturday and your self imposed torture fest."

She had to smile the slightest bit. "I'm an X-Man now. I'd come back from something as simple as a heart attack," she teased lightly.

"I'd still rather not risk it," Kurt told her as he took to kissing her neck.

She couldn't help the giggle that escaped her. "And I suppose you have a few ideas for preventing heart attacks," she whispered with a grin.

"Regular exercise?" he asked.

"And drinking water," she said, giggling, before she just hooked her hands around his neck and pulled him into a deeper kiss.

* * *

When Scott and Annie arrived at the mansion, Annie looked a bit wide-eyed as she simply took in the vast grounds and the large school on the outskirts of the town, seemingly unable to see it all fast enough as she just tried to soak it in by the time they arrived at the front door.

Once they arrived, the door was all but flung open by Storm and Kurt, who were waiting to greet them with wide smiles.

"It's been too long," Storm said as she took two long steps forward and simply wrapped Scott up in a long hug. "Welcome Home."

Scott was grinning as he returned the hug. "It's nice to be back," he told her before he grabbed Annie by the hand and gestured between the two women. "Ororo, I'd like you to meet my fiance, Annie. Annie — meet Storm."

"I'm very pleased to meet you," Storm said with a warm smile as she shifted her focus to Annie and giving her a similar — though not quite as familiar — hug. "Welcome."

Annie broke into a smile as she gently returned the hug, still looking a bit overwhelmed. "I guess living in a small town my whole life didn't quite prepare me for how... " She turned to Scott and lightly smacked his arm. "You didn't tell me it was this _gorgeous_."

Scott just grinned ruefully. "I tried to," he defended, but Annie just shook her head at him and looked back at Storm.

"Your school is lovely, Miss Storm," she said warmly.

"You can call me 'Ro'," she told her. "Nearly everyone does."

"I'm Annie to just about everybody but my students," Annie said with her usual smile. "And then I'm 'Miss Annie,'" she added, the smile widening as she looked around the halls.

Kurt shared a smile with Storm before he nodded at Annie. "Normally, this would be where one of us would show you around, but it seems you've brought your own tour guide."

Annie laughed and nodded her agreement, slipping her arm through Scott's. "Yes, it looks like I did," she said as Kurt and Storm just shared even wider smiles as the proud look on Scott's face as he watched his fiance's excitement over seeing his home.

"When the two of you have finished," Ororo said toward Scott, "I believe Kate will be waiting in Charles' old office."

Scott looked her way and tipped his head slightly before he nodded. "Yeah, Kurt told me she had some kind of project she was working on," he said. He looked thoughtful for a moment before he just looked back at Annie. "I think Annie was glad for the excuse to come visit anyway."

"I'm just saying, Scott," Annie said with a little grin as it was clear the two were picking up a conversation they'd had on the way up. "Those little houses in town are a reasonable price. I'm sure we could talk Anton into getting one too."

"Come on, honey, let me show you around before you start making plans to move the whole family," Scott laughed as he led her off down the hall.

They hadn't gotten very far before they ran into another X-Man, though — and while Annie immediately broke into a wide, friendly smile on seeing the redheaded girl, Scott stopped for a moment, suddenly unsure how he could possibly introduce Rachel Summers to his future wife. After all, how does one explain an alternate-dimension daughter to someone who isn't used to X-Men and time travel and all the nonsense that comes with that kind of thing?

For her part, Rachel had stopped in the hallway, her head tipped to one side as she looked Scott over. She didn't look all that happy to see him either, since, well, they hadn't exactly been on the best terms when Scott had seen her last. But then Scott felt the familiar prick of a telepathic sweep touch him before Rachel looked at Annie as well.

Rachel's shoulders relaxed the slightest bit before she smiled Annie's way and held out her hand. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Rachel," she said. "I teach telepathic self defense."

"Oh!" Annie looked a bit wide-eyed and even downright impressed. "I don't know anything about that," she admitted. "But I'm sure it's amazing."

Rachel smirked a bit, and she really did look like Scott when she did. "Maybe I'll show you some tips and tricks next time you come. You really should know that kind of thing around here." She glanced at Scott for a moment before she just shrugged up one shoulder. "Anyway, nice to meet you," she said before she headed further down the hallway in the opposite direction Scott and Annie had come.

Annie smiled after Rachel and waved, but as soon as Rachel had walked off, Scott heard her voice in his mind: _She seems nice._

 _She is_ , he replied.

 _Good_ , was the simple response — that was it.

Scott let out a bit of a sigh. He'd never really been sure how to deal with Rachel, and he wasn't too proud of what he had done to lead to the split within the X-Men, but he had no idea where to even begin with her — or with the rest of it, for that matter.

So — he just turned his attention back to Annie so he could continue the rest of the tour.

Annie seemed to be enjoying herself entirely. There weren't quite as many students at home, because it was spring break, but the ones that she did see seemed to absolutely thrill her as Scott took her through the various classrooms and such.

By the time they made it to Charles' old office, Annie seemed to be a bit overwhelmed. She was still grinning ear to ear, as if this was the only thing she could think to do, and she seemed a little breathless, but whenever Scott asked her if she was alright, she would just giggle a bit and nod. "It's amazing," she said every time he asked.

Kate was waiting for them in the office with a clearly nervous smile as she smoothed down her purple pencil skirt and just… took a breath. "So — while you're here… I have a favor to ask," she said as soon as Scott closed the door behind them. "Well, it's a business proposition. Sort of. Yeah." She smoothed her skirt again. "I'm still very bad at this part."

"Relax, Kate," Scott said with a little smirk. "I won't bite you."

She smiled at that and nodded quietly before she tried to explain, "I don't know how much Kurt told you? But I'm trying to re-launch a line of books that isn't full of… you know. All the garbage my dad was running. And I want the first one to be something big. And… well…" She gestured at the desk. "I'd like to publish Professor Xavier's work, but I need your permission."

"Just give me the papers," Scott said quickly, his gaze to the floor.

Kate broke into a grin at that and nodded, quickly sweeping up a file and pressing it into his hands. "Thank you _so much_ ," she said, unable to quite contain herself and giving him a huge hug as well. "Really. This is ... thank you!"

"Don't mention it," he said roughly as he half pushed her back with one hand. "Really."

Kate looked a bit surprised at his reaction, since she was sure that he would have been _happy_ about this, but it looked like he was just… well, she wasn't sure what that particular expression was on Scott. She hadn't spent enough time with the leader of the X-Men to identify it. "Do you — do you want to read it first?"

"The papers? No. The book — I've read it already," Scott said, still with that same expression and now, Kate noticed, with a slight tremble in his voice. "The first four revisions anyhow."

"It's beautiful stuff," Kate agreed, a bit quieter now as she realized maybe she hadn't quite prepared Scott for the emotional bombshell she didn't realize she'd been throwing his way.

"It is," he agreed, turning a shade pale. "I'm — is that all you needed?"

"Well, yeah," she said, tilting her head at him. "But — I thought you'd be… more excited?"

"He is," Annie said, putting a hand on Scott's shoulder with a little smile before she turned to Kate. "When can I buy a copy?"

"Oh, I'm doing a special run for any X-Men who want one. Out of pocket. No reason for you guys not to have one — I mean, he's _your_ professor," Kate explained, waving her hand. "I'll mail it to you."

Scott gave her a tight kind of smile and nodded his head. "You know where we are."

Kate beamed at both of them and tucked the file back under her arm before she took a breath and tried to redirect the conversation as best she could to give Scott a break. "Okay. I think Bobby's making dinner — unfortunately. But if you want? Storm, Jubes, and I are hiding from the mac n' cheese and going out for a girls night for dinner while Kurt and Logan head out to Harry's. You're totally welcome to come, Annie," she said, much less nervous now and back to her grinning self.

"I wouldn't want to impose," Annie said with a smile.

"I'm _inviting_ you. Come on." Kate shook her head at Annie.

"And staying for Bobby's cooking is hazardous to your health," Scott agreed, regaining a bit of a smirk.

"Great!" Kate grinned and grabbed Annie by the arm. "It's my turn to pick the restaurant, so I hope you like breakfast for dinner."

Annie turned to Scott for a moment. "You'll have to find something to eat on your own, looks like," she said with a little smirk.

"I might head down to Harry's myself," Scott said with a smirk. "Been a long time since I've gotten that particular brand of heartburn."

Annie just grinned and kissed his cheek. "See you soon." With that, she took Kate's arm, and the two grinning girls headed down the hall as Scott just watched them leave, leaning on the desk and just … trying to breathe.

"We go out all the time just us girls," Kate explained to Annie brightly as she steered the older woman long. "I got my Storm sleepover, and it just ... sort of became a _thing_."

"It sounds amazing," Annie said with a little grin, clearly entertained.

The two of them met up with Storm and Jubilee a short while later in the kitchen as they watched Bobby with clear amusement as he attempted to burn water.

"Hey, I picked up a stray around the mansion. Can I keep her?" Kate called out with a little grin.

"Please," Storm agreed, looking up at the two women as they came in with a definite smirk across her features. "Are you joining us for dinner, or is she keeping you on a more permanent basis?" she asked Annie with a twinkle in her eye.

Annie laughed. "As far as I know, I'm just invited for dinner," she said.

"Shows what you know," Jubilee muttered under her breath with a smirk before Storm elbowed her in the ribs with a warning look.

"I hope breakfast for dinner sounds acceptable to you," Storm said. "There's a wonderful diner just down the road, and it's one of Kate's favorites."

"It sounds lovely," Annie said warmly.

Once they got into the car and under way, Storm didn't waste much time getting down to it, though. "Why don't you tell me about yourself? The ones that have invaded your home already didn't have more to share than how good you've been for Scott and the fact that you have a charming family," she said with a kind smile.

Annie smiled wider at the question. "I'm sure they told you more than that," she teased lightly. .

"Only that you teach as well," Storm said, her expression giving nothing away.

At that, Annie brightened and sat up a bit taller. "Yes. Much younger students than you have here, though. That's what brought me to Alaska in the first place," she explained. "It was my first teaching job, and then I just… stayed. I couldn't imagine leaving those kids," she admitted with a little blushing smile.

"That's too bad," Storm said off-handedly. "We could use another general teacher here. Some of our students are a bit ... out of their league with the upper level classes, and I'm afraid asking Henry to teach beginning science seems to cause him great pain."

Annie looked honestly surprised and then thoughtful for a moment before she just smiled. "I've had a few colleagues like that myself. Good scientists, but they don't seem to realize they're talking over their students' heads."

"But you wouldn't do that," Kate supplied with a smirk Storm's way.

"It's just too bad you're not willing to leave behind your students in Alaska," Storm said with a little smile. "If you were, we'd have to sit down and negotiate your terms."

Annie looked between the girls for a moment before she broke into a smile. "I wouldn't want to leave them before they finish the school year and move on to a new teacher anyway," she clarified. "So I couldn't start until the fall," she added, her smile growing wider with every word. "It's so close to the end of the school year in Alaska as it is."

"That might be a sticking point," Storm said seriously. "We hold all of our pre-term meetings poolside starting in July, and they are mandatory."

"I see," Annie said, smiling wider. "Well, I could be persuaded to come down for some actual _summer_ weather if I can find the time…." She broke into a little laugh and just started to shake her head. "Oh, I'd love to move. It's way too cold up there for human beings."

"There seem to be only a handful that want to spend any real time up there," Storm agreed.

"There's a few that can take it, but I grew up in Memphis," Annie explained with a smile. "I admit — I miss the heat. It's still cold up this way, but it's not… a tundra," she teased. She leaned back and looked thoughtful. "I appreciate the offer, I really do… and... I hesitate to ask… But my sister and I have been together forever. I don't want to move if I can't bring her with me. I don't suppose you know if there's space for a state trooper and his family down this way?"

"I'm sure that you should be able to find a reasonable opening in law enforcement," Storm said. "Have your sister send his resume and we'll … start looking for him."

"That would be lovely!" Annie beamed at all of the women in the car. "I've been tryin' to convince Scott to move back down here. I _know_ he misses it, but he — well, with my job, and Anton's work — he doesn't want to pull us from it."

"If he knew how much you missed the warmer weather, he might reconsider his stance," Storm reasoned, obviously pleased at how well her plan was working.

"And you really wouldn't mind? I mean, I'm not an X-Man," Annie said quickly. "I'd hate to think I was imposing, even if it helps get Scott back to his family."

"I wasn't an X-Man when I started teaching archery," Kate said helpfully, and Annie looked like she might break her face smiling that wide. "It's not a requirement."

"In that case," Annie said, turning to Storm. "I'll have my credentials on your desk before we go back to Anchorage."

* * *

"I mean, it's up to you. I like living here, but Kurt was already set up ,and I just sort of moved in with him," Kate said. The girls were all back in the mansion again, lounging on couches by the fireplace as they chatted easily, telling Annie about the best places to stay. "But if you want to be closer to the stores and things, you really want to be _in_ town."

"There were a few adorable homes that we saw driving in," Annie said with a nod. "If we didn't live here, we'd want someplace with extra bedrooms for guests. My nieces stay with us often enough that our place in Anchorage has a room just for the girls when they stay the night."

"And it might be nice to have your own space, once you get married," Kate mused. "It can be kind of crowded and loud around here sometimes, and I'm sure you want him _all_ to yourself," she teased.

"When you put it like that, maybe we should start shopping for you too, Kate," Jubilee teased.

"Hey, shopping, I can do," Kate countered with a smirk. "I could always use a new tee or twelve."

"A nice three bedroom house in reasonable distance of the mansion," Jubilee said as she shot Kate a look. "You know. For the kids."

"The girls haven't stopped asking about you, you know," Annie said with a warm smile at Kate as she picked up on the teasing. "They said to tell you they'll never have non-Hawkeye s'mores again."

Jubilee just _beamed_ at that as she turned to her friend. "You're a natural, Kate."

Annie laughed at the look on Kate's face and then tipped her head at Jubilee. "Oh, and the Peeps were a rousing success. They've dubbed _you_ the sugar queen," she said, pointing at Jubilee with a little smirk. "Please — when Scott and I get around to it, _don't_ sugar our children up that badly. It was a madhouse."

"I am afraid I can't promise that," Jubilee admitted with an easy shrug. "As it turns out, the sugar helps me amp up by abilites. So I need it. And I like to share."

"I can't argue with that," Annie agreed, laughing. "I was always taught to share when I had anything fun. And s'mores are definitely that." She smiled kindly over at Kate. "How long have you and Nightcrawler been together, then? If you're thinking ahead—"

"Woah, don't listen to Jubes," Kate said quickly and with a very obvious blush, holding up both hands. "It's been several months, okay - it's not… Jubes is just being a pain."

But Jubilee drew herself up a little taller and gave Kate a _look_. "I can see the future when it comes to you two. Just by the way you are always locked away …. _alone._ "

Kate stuck her tongue out at Jubilee. "What, is that a secondary mutation? Seeing _very specific and unrealistic_ futures?"

"Natural Chinese fortuneteller," Jubilee replied without missing a beat. "Thousands of years of being right about stuff like this. And you know. Simple Observation."

"It's not…" Kate leaned back, sighed, and shook her head, laughing at Jubilee. "You are _way_ impatient. Why do I even put up with you?" she teased.

"I'm too fabulous to ignore?" Jubilee asked. "And all the bright lights and sparkles draw your attention."

"Yes, well, with eyesight like mine, I can appreciate it best," Kate laughed.

Annie laughed at the two of them. "Are you two like this around your students as well?" she teased. "I'm sure those kids love a good show."

Jubilee just laughed and shook her head. "We just compete as to whose class is the most fun. Kate here plays with sticks and strings, and I teach gymnastics."

"I have a flock, and she has a team of somersaulters," Kate agreed.

"And backflippers."

"They're difficult targets," Kate teased. Then, seeing Annie's raised eyebrow, she added, "We use paint tips for most of that stuff. The bamfs think it's hilarious."

"They both sound like fun classes," Annie said diplomatically as Storm opened the door to the kitchen and they finally stepped back into the house to find Kurt trying to get Scott to hold still for an ice pack as Scott shushed him to be more quiet and Logan just snickered nearby, beer bottle in hand.

Annie took in the scene and immediately settled into a look of disapproval that any teacher recognized. " _Scott_ ," she said sharply, which had all three men turning her way. "What happened here?"

"Just ... a little misunderstanding down at Harry's," Scott said with a wave and a look that clearly read he was trying to play it off before he — or anyone else — got in trouble.

Annie raised an eyebrow and then turned to Kurt. "What _kind_ of misunderstanding?" she asked, her hands on her hips. "I thought you three were just going to get something to eat — not — not start some kind of _scuffle_."

"Someone took offense where they should _not have_ ," Kurt said with a serious frown. "And Scott tried to get them to pull their head out."

Annie let out a long sigh and rolled her eyes Scott's way. "Of course he did," she said, though her tone wasn't nearly as sharp.

"And they did," Scott said proudly. "For a minute. But — then his buddy shoved me, and Logan just — well. Did … what Logan does."

"And of course, you couldn't let him have all the fun," Kate supplied for them, chuckling to herself. She slipped over to wrap her arms around Kurt's middle from behind. "Silly boys."

"It would have been fine if the guy didn't hit Scott like that," Kurt said. "Because when Logan helped him up he just ... asked Scott if he was going to take that kind of treatment — and it … it just went downhill from there."

Annie shook her head at all three men, though she had lost most of her bite by then. "I hope you taught them a proper lesson for shoving my future husband," she said at last, looking to Logan with a smirk.

"They won't do it again," Logan promised with a smirk to match hers.

She took her hands off her hips at last before she just laughed and gently grabbed the ice pack to start applying it to Scott's cheek. "If we're going to live here, you'll have to promise this won't happen every week," she told him with a little frown as she shook her head at him.

"Really?" Scott asked, trying to turn toward her for a moment before she took his chin between her fingers and forced him to look forward so she could get at his cheek. "I thought you didn't want to leave Alaska," he said.

"Honey," she said with a pointed look. "I didn't want to leave in the middle of the _school year_. I didn't say anythin' about _after_ that." She dabbed at his cheek and made a little tutting noise. "It's warmer here, even if it is a little too far north for it to be _paradise_ ," she teased.

"Got your compass screwed up, sweetheart," Logan chuckled.

Annie tipped her head his way. "Don't think I do," she countered with a smile. "Daddy used to say you could only go straight to heaven from Mississippi. Everybody else has to go diagonally."

"We'll just agree to disagree then," Logan laughed her way before he tilted his head toward Scott. "You gonna be able to get this joker to your room alright or should Kurt try to help you out?"

Annie laughed as she helped Scott to his feet. "Honey, if you think I would've agreed to marry him if I couldn't keep up with him, you're sadly mistaken," she said with a smile. "You should've seen him when we first met. This? This wasn't a bar fight."

"Oh really?" Logan asked, his interests piqued. He leaned halfway over the counter with his chin resting in his hand. "That _does_ surprise me. What were you doin' in a bar fight, Slim? That's not exactly your style."

Scott didn't meet Logan's gaze and just mumbled out an unintelligible response as Annie tutted at him again when he slipped a bit sideways and Logan slipped in to help hold him up. "Don't worry, I'll forget about it sooner or later," Logan teased Scott.

"Most of those guys had it comin'," Annie said, glancing at Scott with a soft, proud sort of smile.

"What'd they do?" Logan asked.

"Oh, the usual," Annie said dismissively. "It's not like Scott is unrecognizable, and a lotta people seemed to think that gave 'em the right to take things out on him." She let out a sigh. "Actually, Anton used to have to step in and help, because Scott wasn't _fighting back_ when he first got to Anchorage," she said, looking at Scott severely. "That's how we met," she added Logan's way.

"You were watching him get a beat down?" Logan said, his nose scrunched up. "That - doesn't sound right. Even for our little boy scout."

"He seemed to think they had a right to their opinion — or he believed it, not sure which. I had to set him straight either way. It wasn't very romantic," Annie agreed with a little smile. "But you know, Scott was nice to Anton when he came to Alaska, and when Anton saw what was happening, he wanted him to have a place to stay for the night those… _people_ didn't know about." She shrugged. "The way Scott tells it, I can be very convincin' when I tell him to stop being an _idiot_ and just accept some good ol'-fashioned hospitality instead of letting people take their stupidity out on him."

"No, no," Scott tried to say. "It was having you around that kept me out of trouble. Those guys were too intimidated by you," he said with an attempt at a smirk.

"Nobody messes with the Hale girls," Annie said, nodding her agreement with a little laugh and an affectionate peck on his cheek.

"Good thing you decided to take pity on him," Logan replied, still smirking, though Kurt was now giggling madly in the corner as the couple headed off with Scott stumbling to keep his feet under him.

"Well, it was hard to say no once he was all cleaned up and trying to help around the house to make up for the mess of that night," Annie teased. "Not like it's the first time I've had blood on my couch, the way Anton used to have problems."

"Something you and Kate can compare notes on then," Logan laughed.

She chuckled at that. "The way your friend Jubilee tells it, she wants Kate to be our neighbor — buy one of those three-bedroom houses in town next to the ones I've got an eye on." She laughed again. "That girl makes plans."

"She does — try to watch your step around her," Logan nodded. "She looks harmless, but she is devious."

Annie smiled wider. "Good to know. I don't suppose you have any other tips?" She adjusted her hold on Scott. "Anything I should know?"

"On what, exactly?"

"Well, you're on staff here, as I understand it," Annie explained, a bit of a twinkle coming into her gaze. "And I know the planning meetings don't start 'til July, but I'd love to get a leg up before classes start in the fall."

He very nearly missed a step as he glanced her way. "You're — both of you? I didn't realize that was the plan."

"I wasn't sure myself, but Storm offered me a position teaching beginner's courses in science and math," Annie said with a bright smile.

"Alright then. Scott would be a lot better to fill you in than me," he replied. "Not much has changed. But you might want to have Rachel work with you before school starts or the telepaths will make your life hell if they can. Might want to think about taking some self defense too."

"And here I've just been spending my time trying to avoid spitballs and snowballs," Annie laughed.

"Snowballs are usually part of the math finals," Logan said with a smirk. "And ice slides."

"I'll make sure to include that in the syllabus," Annie chuckled. "We'll build a fort after we're done with multiplication tables," she teased.

"That'll be great for the four-sided war."

"Where I'm from, we call that more or less a free-for-all."

"Yeah, it turns into every man for himself pretty quick."

The three of them had finally made it to the room where Scott and Annie were staying, and as Logan helped her get the door open and pull Scott through, Annie had to laugh. "If I do take the job, you'll have to help me keep him out of trouble. Bar fights I can stop — but this X-Men stuff is a bit beyond my paygrade."

"He handles the X-Men stuff just fine on his own," Logan assured her. "There's a reason we had him in charge of the team all those years."

She leaned forward with a little smile to whisper, "As long as you bring him back to me in one piece, I don't much care who's in charge."

Logan had to match her smile as he mirrored her move, "That's kinda been part of my job for as long as I've been here."

Annie smiled warmly at him. "I can take it from here," she said, a little louder this time as she helped Scott take a seat. "Thank you for your help — and the advice." With that, she just gave Logan a beaming grin as Scott half leaned into her for a kiss and Logan excused himself elsewhere to give them a little privacy.


	14. Dinner Guests

**From CC: It makes me happy to see so many people on board with Annie. We think she's perfect for Scott, so it's great to be vindicated in that everyone (so far) is agreeing with us. I can only hope you'll like some of our other set ups down the line and a few twists on current theories that frankly - Marvel needs to pay attention to. (we're available for consult, seriously.) Now. As this is the end of this particular VOLUME, please be sure to bounce on over to robbie's page to read the next volume which … robbie is frankly DYING to share.**

 **From robbie: What CC said. Seriously. We are so on board the "Make Scott Summers Happy" train, and we're glad that everyone seems to agree that Annie is a good conductor for said train. ;) I'd say more, but VOLUME FOUR. *dying noises of excitement* *ahhhhhhh***

* * *

 **Chapter 14: "Dinner Guests"**

* * *

Kamala Khan made her way up to the mansion with a little excited skip in every step. She'd double- and triple-checked the address a hundred times just to be sure she wasn't just dreaming this up, and yep, she'd definitely been invited up to the X-mansion.

She was really, really glad she'd taken Bruno's dare to actually turn in some of her writing when there was a _Hawkeye_ working in publishing, but she hadn't thought she'd actually _hear back._ It was just a dare!

And now here she was. Walking up the mansion. And trying very hard not to look like she was about to die of happiness.

When she rang the doorbell, she totally recognized the guy at the door wearing a long coat and a smirk and tried not to squee in his face. "Hi!" she blurted out quickly. "Hi — um. I have an invitation?" She held up her letter. "I'm not late, am I?"

"No," the tall man replied with a thick accent. "You early — but Miss Kate waitin' for you down de hall. Come on in." He held the door open for her and smiled down at her with red and black eyes half hidden under his somewhat messy reddish-brown hair.

Kamala all but skipped over the first step as she looked around, wide-eyed, for a moment before she turned back with a little "oh." "Um — I'm Miss Marvel," she said quickly. "I'm an Avenger now," she added, because that was never, ever going to get old.

"Gambit," he replied with a widening smile as he tipped his head to her. "I'm not. An Avenger, dat is."

"No, I know that. I mean — hey, you're not on the team with me!" she laughed. "I mean — I know who you are. Not that — I mean. It's very nice to meet you." She mentally berated herself for tripping over her words — she had meant to be _cool_ about coming to the institute, and this was so not how she had pictured it going in her head.

"Charmed. Maybe you'd like a soda or somethin' while you wait for Miss Kate?" He gestured toward the kitchen, already leading her that way before she could answer.

"Um, okay. Maybe some water," Kamala agreed. "It's a _really_ long walk from your driveway."

"Dat it is, _petit_ ," Gambit replied before he pulled out a bottle of water for her and set it on the counter by one of the kitchen stools. "Mebbe take a minute to catch yo' breath before you pass out. Ain't nobody gon' mind if you take a minute to breathe."

"Thanks," Kamala said. She hopped up on the stool and fiddled with the cap of the water bottle before she took a long drink.

He leaned against the counter across from her and propped his head up on one hand. "So. You gon' be de new novelist for Miss Kate?"

"I guess so?" She smiled nervously. "I mean, I've only written the one thing, but she liked it. I really write more of fanfiction — I mean, well. I'm trying other things. Just… yeah." She rubbed the back of her neck.

"What kinda stories you write in your fanfiction, _petit_? You ever write about ol' Gambit?" he asked with a little laugh before he just shook his head at her. "Don' worry none. You gon' be jes fine. You play it cool and you make a big splash before you know it."

"Yeah, I can do that," she said, nodding to herself. They spent a few more minutes just chatting to let a bit of time pass before Kamala looked truly relaxed and at ease and Gambit offered to take her to see Miss Kate.

Kamala was grinning as he led her through the halls and as she took in the sights of the mansion before they finally got to Kate's office, where Kate was waiting with coffee and a nervous grin of her own. "Nice to meet you," Kate said, the smile widening when she realized that Kamala was just as nervous. "Cap's told me some really nice things about you — I hope you don't mind I called him to ask about you?"

Kamala shook her head and started to grin. "What kind of nice things?" she asked.

Kate just laughed and waved her inside. "All sorts of nice things," she promised. "He was surprised when I told him you could write, though. Come on in. Let's talk about how you can surprise him some more."

Kamala nodded and looked back over her shoulder to see that Gambit was just standing nearby, leaning against the wall and grinning at her with an easy smile.

"Come on, I don't bite," Kate said with a little laugh. "Do you drink coffee? How do you take it?"

"I'm fine. I had some water," Kamala assured her as she gave Gambit a thumbs up and then closed the door behind her.

* * *

When Kamala and Kate emerged from the office, they were both grinning and laughing together, very different from the nervous little girls that they had been before. Kamala was telling Kate about her first time _ever_ in space and how Tony Stark had written her parents a letter to invite her to a 'science symposium' so she could go — and Kate thought the whole thing was hilarious.

Kate invited her to stay for dinner, because Logan was going "all out," and she promised Kamala that it would be the best meal she'd had all week.

They were partway to the kitchen when a couple of the bamfs showed up and excitedly chattered at Kate, who just laughed at them. "Yes, this is the writer," she told them. "Say hi, Kamala."

"Hi, Kamala," Kamala said brightly as she waved at the bamfs, one of which got up pretty close in her face to examine her before they just sort of nodded at her and then turned their attention back to Kate to hover near her and more or less shepherd her to the kitchen so she could join the rest of the X-Men — and Kurt.

"Just sit wherever you want," Kate told Kamala when the younger girl seemed to pause uneasily once they got to the dining room. Kamala just stuck close by Kate and sat on her other side as Kate slid in next to Kurt with a sedate smile.

"Um — do we know what we're eating?" Kamala asked as everyone seemed more interested in chatting than anything else.

"Knowing Logan — likely either some kind of fish or venison," Kurt assured her. "It's not usually anything too terribly complex, I promise. But more often than not, it's a good night to come by."

"Sounds like I lucked out then," Kamala said with a nervous grin his way.

"Yeah, Bobby was on Saturday," Scott added with a laugh as he and Annie took a seat nearby. "You dodged a bullet."

"Oh. Oh, I really want to ask if it was a frozen dinner, but that would be bad taste, wouldn't it?" Kamala said.

Scott gave her a genuine smile. "No. Not really. Not when it doesn't matter what it is since he usually has to freeze it to put the fire out."

"Yeah. That doesn't sound like something I want to eat," Kamala agreed with a smile. "You're — you're Cyclops, aren't you?" she asked shyly.

His smile fell just a bit as he offered his hand to her. "Scott," he said with a little nod. "Nice to meet you—"

"Oh! I'm Miss Marvel," she said, positively beaming at him. "I mean — I'm Kamala. Also that. Um - are you really… I'm a big fan!" She looked very nervous again all of a sudden. "I've read all sorts of stuff about you and — and — my best friend's story about you is top-rated on Freaking Awesome and — and you're just really cool, Cyclops, sir."

"Ah, thanks … I think," he replied, the smile easing its way back on his face.

"So cool to see you at the mansion! I mean — you're getting back in action, right? You gotta," she said, warming up again and just all but bouncing in place.

"Thinking about it, yeah," Scott admitted. "Nothing's solid yet though."

"Oooh, that would be so _cool_!" Kamala gushed. "I mean — the new lineup is really, really neat, but oh man — that would be awesome!"

Annie looked incredibly amused as she slid her arm through Scott's. "It would, wouldn't it?" she said in a low whisper Scott's way.

A shrill whistle split the air, and the regulars were all set to go. "Time to eat, _Kleine_ ," Kurt said to Kamala. "Don't let them fool you — Ororo and Jubilee will fight you if it's one of their favorites."

"Oh, okay," Kamala said, then smiled the slightest bit and stretched out her arms until one of them had reached behind the chairs all the way to the end of the table. "Well, it's a good thing I can reach anyplace on the table and steal the best stuff," she assured him.

While the group went to grab their dinners, Logan slipped back to the kitchen to grab the beer, and when he tossed one Kurt's way, the fuzzy Elf very nearly missed it because he was wrapped up in conversation with the sweet Miss Marvel. Kurt glared at him for just a second but laughed it off.

"You game, Slim?" Logan had almost just tossed Scott a can but stopped himself to _check_ and see if Scott still had the good humor from the night before. "Cedar Salmon and beer. Beat the combo."

Scott paused for a moment and then hard to smirk. "Hard to have one without the other."

Logan returned the smirk and tossed the can his way — which Scott caught with a bit more ease than Kurt had.

Annie laughed at the look on Scott's face. "You love it here," she whispered to him, and the only one who could hear it besides Scott was Logan, who just quietly smirked and turned away so Scott couldn't see it.

The group all made their way to the dining room, Logan with the rest of the six pack in tow to sit down to dinner and listen while Kate told the group as a whole about her newest author — pending getting her parent's permission on her contract, of course.

"She's really talented," Kate gushed. "I couldn't believe it when she told me she was only seventeen." Kamala was blushing and looking steadfastly down at her food as Kate went on to gush about the possibilities the two of them already had in mind for a series.

Of course, once Annie asked Kamala about how she got into writing and seemed to express genuine interest in her Avengers fanfiction — well, there was no stopping her. Her earlier shyness was gone completely as she seemed eager to tell Annie _everything_.

Scott and Logan watched her gush as they ate, only glancing at each other now and again in amusement at her enthusiasm as they listened in silently.

They were about halfway through dinner when the proximity alarms went off, and the gathered group looked up in surprise. "Please tell me that's just a fancy way of saying dessert is coming out of the oven," Kamala said, seemingly disappointed at the interruption.

"Excuse me," Kurt said after sharing a quick look with Logan and Scott, both of whom stood up quickly even as Kurt teleported away.

"Jubes — you wanna get the students somewhere safe?" Logan called out as he and Scott headed toward the front door.

Kamala stood up quickly to try and follow after them, with Kate close behind her. "What's the alarm? I can help," she offered, even as she grew her hands into fists about the size of her entire torso.

"Don't know yet," Logan replied, and as they got to the foyer, an explosion rocked the room and Kurt teleported back into the house, not twenty paces behind them.

"Reavers," he announced. "They don't seem too happy with any of us."

"Okay, well… what do you suggest to fight them?" Kamala asked.

"Hit 'em real hard," Logan offered before Kurt teleported the two of them outside in a pouf of indigo smoke.

"You let me know if you need out, and I'll ask one of the bamfs to take you," Kate offered as she ran beside Kamala toward the doors. "I know the switch from Avenger baddies to X-Men baddies is… fun. They can be much nastier than you're used to. Never even met reavers myself."

Kamala just nodded as she looked Kate's way. "I can handle it," she said. "You let me know if you need some backup, alright, Hawkeye?" she added with a cheeky grin.

As the two girls burst onto the scene, they weren't surprised at all to see that the three X-Men who had left before them were already knee-deep in the fight — Kurt with his swords, Scott blasting through enemies, and Logan tearing them a path to just keep going leaving bits of cyborg across the lawn.

Kamala winced a bit when she saw the carnage but nodded over at Kate. "So ... these are reavers?"

"Apparently." Kate said as she fitted an arrow. "I bet they're just as smashable as the stuff you're used to, though — let's try it out."

Kamala grinned at Kate and then rushed forward to send one reaver flying backward with a punch from her oversized fist. She grabbed another one up in the palm of her hand and then shouted out in pain and surprise when he shot through her, though Kate was quick to repay the insult with an arrow through his forehead as Kamala shook out her hand with a wince.

"You alright?" Kate called out, and Kamala just nodded.

"Healing factor," she explained as she shook her hand one more time. "Just have to work through it even when it hurts. That's what — well, the other Wolverine told me."

"Which one? The older one?" Kate asked curiously.

"No, the one that died," Kamala said as she smashed her fist down on a Reaver that had been eyeing Kate and taking aim. "For a guy who lost his healing, he sure had some good tips for mine."

"This one's a pretty good teacher too," Kate said with a smirk, illustrating her point by temporarily abandoning the bow to vault into a hooked kick that brought down a Reaver near Kamala.

"Thanks!" Kamala called out as Kate saluted her with her bow and then, to Kamala's surprise, vanished in a puff of smoke only to reappear a bit further out where she could line up a perfect shot — and then Kamala noticed the little bamf on Kate's shoulder baring its teeth at the reavers and growling menacingly.

"Embiggen!" Kamala shouted, and she started to grow even more — not just her fists but her whole body, so that she could kick a few reavers away from the fight. She heard a peculiar-sounding _bamf_ just by her ear and looked over to see Kate perched on her shoulder.

"Oh, hi there. Mind if I come along for the ride?" Kate asked conversationally, and Kamala just grinned back at her.

"Do you have them trained or something?" Kamala asked.

"We've been doing this together for a while. Actually, they're pretty easy to work with once you get a good rhythm," Kate said, ruffling the little bamf's hair affectionately before she fitted an arrow. "Look out!" she said, firing once, and Kamala looked down to see that there were about three Reaver's headed her way.

She kicked one of them, and Kate shot the other, but the third managed to get a good slash in that cut through Kamala's calf, and Kamala fell to one knee, desperately shouting, "Shrink, shrink, shrink!" as she fell in an effort to keep from crushing a wing of the school or something.

Kate and the bamf teleported away from the fall, and by the time Kamala hit the ground, she was normal-sized and looked more like herself. "You alright?" she asked as she reappeared beside Kamala in another puff of smoke.

"Yeah, just have to go back to my normal form to heal," Kamala explained through gritted teeth. "Can you buy me a minute?"

Kate nodded and strung another few arrows — the first one explosive to throw the reavers back a bit before she just started firing again. "I can buy you as many minutes as you need," she promised as Kamala nodded and concentrated on healing for a moment.

Meanwhile, the boys had been fighting more or less together and as a team until the reavers just got flat out too nasty. Scott had gotten a slash mark across his chest that very nearly went to the bone, and Kurt had been bashed back hard enough that he temporarily couldn't focus enough to teleport until just a split second before that same reaver brought down a cybernetically-enhanced fist where his head had just been.

Logan had just … kept slashing and cutting at them as best he could — though he had lost track of where the other two had gotten off to as he did so. He was spinning and kicking. Rebounding off of one to kick another and generally enjoying himself with a little smirk as he used his momentum to tear off one of the reaver's arms as he sailed over one's head to dive into him from the other side.

He was simply too occupied with the task at hand to realize what they were doing by cutting him off from the others. But Scott was dealing with far less heat and finally — after a miserably tough fight — he looked up long enough to see what was really happening as the reavers made their move.

In a swift, coordinated attack, Logan found himself with strange cybernetic shackles on his wrists and ankles, and after stabbing the offending reavers for doing ... whatever they'd just done, an odd humming sound echoed the lawn. And just that quickly, he found himself entirely unable to move just as soundly as if Magneto himself had decided to freeze him to the spot.

Scott made a rush for him and called out to warn Kurt of what had happened just as Donald Pierce, the head of the reavers arrived on the scene. He looked Logan over with pure triumph in his gaze before he got to work — apparently just torturing their teammate while his underlings started to simply haul him off, though Scott couldn't hear what he was saying.

There was a familiar-sounding _bamf_ , but when the smoke cleared, it was Kate and Kamala, along with a few bamfs, standing in the way of Pierce's underlings, Kate with her bow drawn and firing the arrows at the ones nearest Logan as soon as she had a good line of sight and Kamala fully healed and with her arms crossed over her chest, though she looked a bit queasy.

"I don't think I like traveling by baby demon things," she muttered to Kate before she looked Logan's way and just gritted her teeth. She reached over to knock aside some of the guards, eyeing the shackles suspiciously.

"Cut him loose," Kurt called out. "Cut him loose, and the bamfs will get you out before ... just — let him loose on them."

"Okay, let me just..." Kamala sized up the shackles while Kate kept Pierce busy with a barrage of arrows his way. She frowned at them and then grabbed hold of the connectors between them and squeezed, the cybernetics falling apart in her hands as she did so, fizzling with electricity that had her gasping but still didn't stop her from destroying the restraints.

And then — as Kurt had promised, Kamala smelled brimstone and tasted smoke before she was somewhere else in the battle entirely. It took a moment for her to get her bearings and find where she had just been so she could see what was going on:

As soon as Kamala had removed the devices holding Logan down, he burst forward and went straight for Pierce with a snarl, simply going right through anyone stupid enough to try and block his path on his way. Kate let out a little sound of surprise when she heard the snarl so close, and an instant later, she too was somewhere else entirely as Scott rushed toward the carnage Logan was working on creating.

Kurt teleported over to where Kamala was with a broad grin. "You did well," he told her with a little laugh.

"Thanks," she said brightly, still shaking out her hands. "I specialize in saving Wolverines," she teased.

"You and me both," Kurt laughed.

Kamala closed her hands back down to normal size, and when she opened them again, there was no sign of any burn from the shackles. "Man. That dinner is really calling my name right now. Do you guys always get attacked when Logan cooks?"

Kurt frowned for a moment. "No, but it does seem to happen more often on his turn. Perhaps he plans it?"

Kamala laughed. "If he does, that's real dedication to making sure everyone works off all their food." She looked toward Logan and Scott. "Aren't they… gonna need help?" she asked, though she looked like she absolutely did not want to go anywhere near that - it was way too much heat for her.

"No," Kurt said with a little shake of his head. "Pierce made Logan mad. He can reap what he's sown now." Kamala just nodded at that, still watching a bit wide-eyed as the two X-Men went to town.

"Someone should point out to Cyclops that he's showing bone," Kate said as she caught up to the two of them, down one quiver and strapping on another.

Kurt raised his hand to his ear theatrically. "Don't you hear the affectionate screaming from here? It's already been pointed out. Words have been exchanged."

Kate snorted as she shot an arrow through another reaver and took the opportunity to take advantage of the small pause to steal a quick kiss to his cheek. "I meant someone he's not actively trying to stupidly rescue, silly Elf," she teased.

"Like that makes any difference," Kurt teased. "He knows that Logan has seen him injured. He won't come out of there until the fight is over or he's passed out from blood loss or pain. There is no middle ground."

"Then we'd better speed this fight along," Kamala suggested, picking up a reaver and throwing him out of the way in one unnaturally large fist.

Just then, Scott shouted out a curse as Logan tore off Pierce's head and drop kicked it halfway across the lawn, just past Scott's head, and after that, the rest of the reavers left didn't exactly seem to feel as though they had much to fight for. The girls, Kurt, and the bamfs easily ran them off after that with arrows sticking in place that really didn't need the downgrade to function properly.

Once the reavers had been run off, Kamala sat down in the grass with a long, loud sigh and then laid back in it. "I could eat a dozen churros right about now and not even blink," she announced to no one as Kate grinned over at her.

"Sorry dinner got screwed up," Scott muttered her way. He and Logan had made their way up to the little group now that the reavers were gone, and Logan was still just half glaring at him.

"Kurt — make those little demons drag him to Henry," Logan growled out. "Idiot doesn't know when he's had enough. Even when his flamin' sternum is showing." Scott opened his mouth to complain, but two little bamfs had already attached themselves to his legs, and in a poof, they were gone.

"So ... reavers," Kate said as she slid up to Kurt and snaked an arm around his waist. "I can check that off the list now. Fun fun."

Kurt smiled over at her before he noticed the growing bruise just underneath her eye. "Are you alright?" he asked, and she just tried to wave him off.

"Worrywort," she said with a little smile.

"When someone hits so close to your eyes, of course I worry," Kurt said as he gently lifted his hand to her cheek.

She held his hand to her face and just smiled at him before she stepped in to kiss him.

A little ways away from the involved couple, Kamala looked a bit pale from her little spot on the grass and Logan simply dropped down to sit nearby. "You don't like blood, do you?" he asked before he glanced her way to watch her expression.

She shook her head. "I don't like hurting _any_ body if I can help it," she admitted.

"Those guys were mostly robot. You didn't hurt anything," he assured her, though she didn't look all that convinced. "You okay? Get hurt? The other three all got a little worked over."

Kamala waved a hand his way with a little smile. "I'm fine. I just need some serious chow is all. Healing really takes it out of me," she explained.

He nodded his head in understanding. "Yeah, that'll do it. Little tip, though — switch to protein. You need about six times as much sugar to get the job done."

"Good to know." She sat up a little bit and grinned at him. "We haven't been introduced, really," she added. "I mean — I met you once, but Cap said that was the alternate dimension you. So ... hi. I'm Miss Marvel." She stuck out her hand for him to shake. "You can call me Kamala."

He gave her a little smirk as he took it. "Logan," he replied before he leaned back onto his elbows in the grass. "You're working with Cap, eh? He treating you right or should I work him over for you?"

"Oh — it's great!" Kamala said quickly. "I really, _really_ like being an Avenger."

"Glad to hear it," he said with a nod. "Still. There's a lot they skim over. If you decide you want to learn a little more than what Cap has you doing, come on by."

"Well, I'm doing a lot of training with Queen Medusa too," Kamala explained. "Not to mention I'm still in high school," she added with a sheepish smile as she rubbed the back of her neck. "Do you guys offer summer courses?"

"That or private lessons," he said with a little nod. "Always something to work out. Kate refuses to admit she needs help, so I just work her over when I have time."

Kamala laughed. "That sounds a lot more rigorous than my summer reading list," she said.

Logan looked over his shoulder to where Kurt and Kate were still flirting. "C'mon," he said as he got to his feet and offered her a hand up. "Let's get some food in you. Can't have word out that we're lettin' kids starve."

Kamala laughed outright. "Just let me at the pantry. You and I can clean it out, and they'll all regret letting us anywhere near the kitchen," she teased.

"Wouldn't be the first time," he admitted with a smirk.

"And maybe not the last?" she asked hopefully.

"Not likely," he agreed. "Especially if you're on the Avengers roster. We'll be crossing paths." With that, he led the way back, with Kamala beaming all the way behind him.

* * *

Those in the mansion were still putting themselves back together after the attack as a few of the students and teachers took to fixing up the school, clearing out cyborg parts, that sort of thing. But Annie had escaped Jubilee's watchful eye to run down to Henry McCoy's medical bay as soon as she heard that Scott was injured, and when she saw what had happened, she looked like she might have a fit.

"What happened?" she demanded, running over to him to get as close as Hank would allow while he was cleaning the long, deep cut to prepare to stitch it back together.

Scott grinned ruefully at her. "I got on the bad side of a reaver," he explained. "I'm fine - Hank's fixing me up."

Annie crossed her arms over her chest and looked over her fiance, who was pale and, she could tell, had his teeth gritted in that way that meant he was pretending to be far more alright than he actually was. She glared at him for a long moment, her lips pursed. "You're _not_ fine, Scott," she pointed out, waving her hand at the medical setup.

"Occupational hazard," Scott said with a little shrug.

Annie rolled her eyes hard. "Do you see anyone else in here that wants to show off their skeleton, Scott?" she asked, which had Hank quietly smirking as he was content to just let Scott get a talking to from this angry Southern lady. "Because I sure don't."

"That's because he's upstairs and healing with half the pantry laid out," Scott said, and Annie glared at him.

" _You_ don't have healing powers, mister, so don't drag him into your own stupid," she said, leveling a finger at him. "So help me, if you show up to our weddin' in a _body cast_ , I will string you up nine ways to Sunday and leave you for the polecats."

"You really should listen to your bride, Mr. Summers," Henry agreed with a little twinkle in his eyes. "I'm not entirely sure how to treat one who has been left out to the polecats."

"I'm not sure on that myself," Scott admitted with an attempted smile Annie's way, but she just rolled her eyes at him even harder.

"Tell me somethin', Doctor McCoy," Annie said, her accent only deepening the more frustrated she got. "Is he goin' to be able to pick up my little nieces when we get back?"

Henry thought it over for a moment and tipped his head to the side. "He might want to let them come to him for the first week unless the stitches are out by the time you get back. It all depends on how long you're here and if our Fearless Leader can manage to keep out of trouble until then."

"Oh, he _will_ ," Annie said with a meaningful glare Scott's way. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and settled in with her hands on her hips. "I won't even have to give him a hard time, because those two little imps of Rachel's will do it for me. Not getting their Uncle Scott fix. _Shameful_."

"Shameful indeed," Henry agreed.

"Hey," Scott said, holding up his hands in as best a defensive gesture as he could manage with Hank still working him over. "We chased off the reavers, and we kept the school safe. We even stopped Pierce from grabbing Wolverine. I think we did good."

"I didn't realize that Pierce was that close," Henry said with a frown as he finished the last few stitches. "Did they manage to lay hands on him?"

Scott nodded with a frown. "Pierce brought a few new toys," he explained before he added, this time smirking the slightest bit, "That Miss Marvel, though — she broke right through them. I don't think Pierce was ready for her."

"He seems to underestimate the young ladies that take a shine to our Wolverine."

"As long as he keeps doing it, I won't complain," Scott admitted. "I'd rather have that oversight to exploit than anything."

"Is she alright?" Annie asked cautiously, looking around the medical area as she suddenly realized she didn't see any injured young lady there.

"Logan's taking care of her," Scott replied, sounding perfectly at ease with the idea. "She should be just fine."

Annie looked him over for a long minute. "Excuse me," she said at last, in a dripping, honeyed accent that meant all sorts of trouble as she headed out of Hank's setup and back toward the main areas.

She made her way upstairs with a frown settling deeply on her features until she finally found Logan — sitting easily in the kitchen with Kamala as the two of them chatted over what was left of the salmon, nibbling away. Or, more appropriately, as Kamala brightly told him that her Wolverine fanfiction was the second-highest rated story on the website she used to post her stories.

Logan just kept pushing things her way and trying to get her to take a breath, and eat, supplying stories of his own here and there to give her a chance to slow down.

Annie looked them both over for a long moment in the doorway, arms crossed, before she swallowed hard and looked at Kamala first. "You alright, honey? Sounds to me like it was rough out there."

Kamala just nodded brightly around a mouthful of food. "Mmhmm," she said, still nodding before she swallowed. "Just hungry."

Logan just gave Annie a little tip of the head a moment before Kamala invited her to join them, and Logan just pulled a chair out in response.

Annie regarded Kamala for a moment before, slowly, she settled into the chair but didn't touch any of the food. "Scott's down in the medical suite," she told Logan matter-of-factly, just to see what his reaction would be.

"Yeah, he'd have been there a lot sooner if he'd have listened and backed off. Hell. Might have avoided it altogether if he'd have just backed off."

Annie's frown only deepened at that. "Well, how come he didn't, Wolverine?" she asked in a very quiet voice.

"Hardheaded as much as I can figure," he replied with a shrug.

She frowned at him for a long moment before she seemed to gather herself and then stuck her finger in his face. "Don't you go gettin' him killed, Logan, or we're going to have _words_. And I don't care that you can heal yourself up right pretty afterward, because that just means I'm going to find out if I can apply all those stories my daddy told me from the war - in person."

He turned to look her over properly. "You can, anytime, if it makes you feel better. And I told you before. I can't make him listen. I can take the hit for him if I'm not already down, but I can't stop him from being an idiot."

"No, you make idiotic decisions _with_ him," she half-shouted, still pointing at him and accentuating her words with a little bounce of the finger. "And _don't_ take a hit for him. That's — that'll make it worse, you… you self-healin' little nincompoop!"

"If I didn't take hits for him, he'd be dead a dozen times over," Logan told her frankly. "And I'm not going to stop. I can take it. He can't."

"It ain't living for him if he loses one of you," she shot right back, eyes narrowed. "You didn't see him before. So don't make me come after you — because I _will_."

"Half of what I do is keep everyone from getting that badly hurt," he replied calmly. "I can't stop every hit they take, though. Especially when they—" He stopped himself partway through and just drew in a deep breath. "Tell you what, sweetheart. When you finally get fed up and decide to come and try what your daddy taught you — bring a baseball bat. I don't want you to break your hand when you hit me."

"Lord help you if I do," she replied evenly, glaring at him hard. "I don't aim to be pleasant about it if you bring that boy back to me beat to all hell and back."

"I'd be happy to teach him how to avoid it — if he'd listen. But years of working with him and not once has he ever listened to a word I said," Logan told her. "So until hell freezes over, I guess I'll just keep trying to take the damn hits."

"Then I guess you and I'll be seein' plenty of each other come July when we move down here," Annie said. "Because 'long as you keep doing that, he'll keep right on gettin' hit anyway." She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair.

"When you run outta your daddy's ideas, I'll coach you in more until you get tired of it."

"Honey, I'll just start using the things I learned from my kids. Those little ones can be _nasty_ when they want," Annie shot back, the beginnings of a smile on her face.

He smiled her way at that. "I'll watch out for glitter bombs and legos minefields then."

"Don't joke," Annie said, the smile tugging at the side of her mouth. "Legos are the worst pain a five-year-old can inflect."

"On your wallet, sure," he agreed with a little laugh.

She shook her head at him and then let out a sigh before she reached over to lightly hit him in the side of the arm. "Don't be an idiot," she told him with a stern look that quickly softened as she then reached over to squeeze his hand. "And ... keep looking out for my idiot, please."

"If I could find a way to take the hits that'd save him without him knowing it? It would have been a perfected art years ago."

She laughed and nodded her agreement before she stood up and primly brushed her hands off on her pants. "Right then. Sorry to interrupt your… late dinner," she said.

"You didn't," Logan told her. "I'm used to getting yelled at after fights."

"That should tell you a little somethin' about your style, honey," she said with a smirk.

"It's usually that I'm hoggin' all the fun, so I guess it does." He turned to Kamala for a moment. "Now you. You need a ride home or something?"

"I was just going to take the bus," Kamala admitted, though she looked a little put out that the Annie and Logan show was over now.

"If you're not against it, I'll take you to the city," he offered. "Save your fare."

"That would be great," Kamala agreed with a smile.

"You ever ride a motorcycle?"

She shook her head, eyes as wide as her grin. "No, I haven't. But ... I've always wanted to," she admitted, her eyes sparkling.

"Well let's grab you a helmet and get you home. Pretty sure I got a jacket around here somewhere you can use," Logan told her. "I could use the fresh air after that mess anyhow."

Kamala grinned delightedly. "Ooh, yes _please_!"

* * *

By the time spring break was over, and Annie had to get back to her students, it was obvious that she didn't want to leave the mansion as she chatted with Storm, excitedly planning out her curriculum for the students as more and more of them trickled back in from their vacations.

"We'd be more than happy to help with your move," Storm told her over breakfast before they were due to leave.

"I'll let you know," Annie promised with a smile. She was shaking her head with a little laugh as she said it and leaned forward. "We may honestly need the help. It might be hard to plan a wedding _and_ move so far from home."

"I'm sure most of us here would be happy to help with that too," Storm promised, grinning.

Annie laughed and nodded her agreement. "We wanted to get married in Anchorage where most of our friends are," she explained. "So we might have to change the date a bit."

"Don't hurry things along on our account unless you're sure that's what you want," Storm replied, shaking her head. "We can always fly you out there when you need it."

Annie nodded. "We might take you up on that," she agreed. She leaned in a bit closer with a wide smile. "And, of course, I'll have to make sure you and the rest of the X-Men are invited. We sent out invitations _weeks_ before Wolverine showed up on our door."

"Well, if the invitations are already sent out, we wouldn't want you changing _too_ much," Storm said, chuckling.

"Oh, we'll need to find a larger venue anyway," Annie admitted easily. "I just can't imagine getting married without having Scott's family around, especially not now that I've met you all."

"That's very considerate of you," Storm said with a small smile.

"No, it's the very least consideration I could show," Annie countered, shaking her head with a little laugh. "Of _course_ y'all should be there. It's not a consideration; it's a fact." She leaned back and tipped her head at Storm as she sipped her sweet tea. "And, honestly, if anyone should be talking about consideration, it's me. You've been way too nice to me."

Storm shook her head, smiling wider. "It's just good to see that you two are so happy," she insisted, to which Annie just grinned.

"We really are," she said softly. She smiled over at Storm as she admitted, "I can't wait to be married to him."

"The feeling is obviously mutual," Storm said with a warm smile. "And I think I speak for all of us here that it's refreshing to see him so… relaxed and happy."

Annie nodded her agreement and then got up to put away her breakfast dishes. "Of course, if I'd've known just how badly he gets himself beaten when he runs with y'all, I'd've insisted on taking a few medical courses before I got engaged to him," she joked.

"I'm sure you can still do that," Storm laughed.

"Once the summer hits and I have a bit more time," Annie agreed. She finished rinsing out her dishes and wiped her hands off on the towel before she turned to face Storm with a little smile and flung her arms around her neck. "Thank you for your hospitality. Truly. It's been an amazing week."

Storm laughed as she hugged Annie back and was surprised when the hug ended that Annie was pressing something into her hands. When she looked down at the envelope in surprise, Annie had a huge smile on her face.

"I'll see you soon, I'm sure," Annie called out, waving, as she all but skipped down the hall to help Scott finish packing up for the trip back to Alaska.

Storm laughed and shook her head the slightest bit before she opened the envelope and had to smile at the neat, hand-written calligraphy:

 _Douglas and Evelyn Hale_

 _Are pleased to announce the marriage of their daughter_

 _Annette Elizabeth Hale_

 _To_

 _Scott Summers_

 _You are cordially invited to their wedding in_

 _Anchorage Alaska_

 _On the Eighth of August_

Storm smiled and turned the envelope over in her hand to see that it was addressed to the entirety of the X-Men. "Well," she said with a little smile. "I'll have to mark our calendar."

* * *

 **Footnotes:: PLEASE, GO read the launch of volume Four, but also … if you were invested in the collaboration we both took part in, do yourself and us a favor and search up 'TeamAwesomeLives' to find our version of how it should have ended.**


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